Band:	Eyehategod
Album:	Eyehategod
Style:	Doom metal, Sludge metal
Release date:	May 21, 2014
A review by:	X-Ray Rod

01. Agitation! Propaganda!
02. Trying To Crack The Hard Dollar
03. Parish Motel Sickness
04. Quitter's Offensive
05. Nobody Told Me
06. Worthless Rescue
07. Framed To The Wall
08. Robitussin And Rejection
09. Flags And Cities Bound
10. Medicine Noose
11. The Age Of Bootcamp

It's near impossible for me to stay unbiased when it comes to Eyehategod. They, along with sludge masters Acid Bath, have been my main soundtrack for most of my teen years. There's something about their uncompromised sense of anger mixed with groove that few bands can match. What I got was all but a surprise? But hey, Eyehategod aren't after any innovation bullshit. They've always been after our throats.

Not many things have changed since Eyehategod hit the streets with Confederacy Of Ruined Lives back in 2000. It ain't a bad thing, considering how they made that sound their own since the dawn of the genre. A change in production is noticeable though. It's a bit cleaner, sharper, and louder. This ends up being both good and bad. While the drumming is greatly benefited in terms of oomph, the riffs have lost a portion of their savage and raw sound which was a characteristic part of the band.

There are also more melodic leads and bluesy moments throughout the album in comparison to some of their previous catalogue, and this is when the change of production proves to be a fair trade as they can be appreciated much better. Don't think that they threw away their aggressiveness though, as tracks like the abrasive opener "Agitation! Propaganda!" shows that they still have that strong hardcore vibe in them.

This was the last appearance of long time drummer Joey LaCaze before his unfortunate death. This made me focus more on the drumming and realized that it's by far his best performance. More variation and fillers have been added, greatly improving the songwriting and adding that extra flavor to songs like "Nobody Told Me" and "Worthless Rescue".

Mike hasn't changed a bit and that's something to be glad about. He spits his lyrics with just as much anger and conviction as he did in the older days. For this he's even added some spoken word from time to time. My only rant is that I'd like to read the lyrics! They rarely put the full lyrics in their booklets?

To sum things up, their comeback doesn't display as much nastiness when you compare it to their classic efforts. Despite that, I still prefer it over their 2000 release and Eyehategod remain one of the angriest bands around.