Oxes

Surprisingly enough, Baltimore's most infamous exponents of rowdy-ism found enough time in between shooting faux-porn photo sessions and organising subsequent staged mock protests against said pending album art (which then became the album art, of course) to record their second full-length album. What's not so surprising is that it rocks to all hell, hype be damned. Jumping out of the gates with "Boss Kitty," a barn burning 13/8 ditty, Oxxxes continues with a heavier than previous emphasis on dance beats, but one that thankfully doesn't detract from the general level of metal insanity at work here. By the time that "Take & Free Miami"'s knee slapping, yet dead serious, harmony palm-muting action kicks in, you'd better at least have your shirt off, guy.