Band:	Austrian Death Machine
Album:	Total Brutal
Style:	Metalcore, Crossover thrash metal
Release date:	July 22, 2008
Guest review by:	s7mon

01. Hello California
02. Get To The Choppa
03. Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers
04. All Of The Songs Sound The Same
05. I Am A Cybernetic Organism, Living Tissue Over (Metal) Endoskeleton
06. Come With Me If You Want To Live
07. What It's Like To Be A Singer At Band Practice
08. Who Is Your Daddy, And What Does He Do?
09. You Have Just Been Erased
10. Broo-Tall Song Idea
11. Here Is Subzero, Now Plain Zero
12. So Far, So Good, So Let's Talk About It
13. Screw You (Benny)
14. Why?
15. If It Bleeds, We Can Kill It
16. It's Not A Tumor
17. Not So Hidden Track

Austrian Death Machine is a one-man band. However, it is not some grim black metal project hailing from Austria. The sole member is Tim Lambesis. He's known for singing in a metalcore band As I Lay Dying. And if you're a metal purist that finds their music repulsive, you might as well finish reading this review and forget about Austrian Death Machine, because on Total Brutal you get pretty much the same as on any other As I Lay Dying album.

The base of the music enclosed in the 38 minutes of the CD is metalcore with easily distinguishable thrash influences. The music is heavy, brutal and well produced. The main difference between the two bands to which Tim Lambesis is committed, Austrian Death Machine is characterized by a greater emphasis on having fun and you can hear that in the song structures. I don't mean they are not well written. They just don't sound so serious and seem like all of them would please any mosh-lover. Also on Total Brutal there are fewer melodic choruses. It's what pisses me off the most about metalcore - regardless if it fits the song or not, there has to be a part where the vocalist turns from a growling beast into a sensitive man and uses his clean voice. Thankfully, there is only one track that includes this annoying feature and it is "I Am a Cybernetic Organism, Living Tissue Over (Metal) Endoskeleton". Other melodies are created here with guitar parts, which is the only right way in metal (my humble opinion).

Okay, so we agreed that the music presented on the album is basically As I Lay Dying after a facelift. So what is it that makes it worth spending listeners' time on checking it out? Arnold Schwarzenegger. You've probably realized by now that the band decided to devote their works to this great action movie star. All songs are based on some of the most famous Arnie quotes. Just look at the tracklist and you'll easily guess which songs are based on Kindergarten Cop, Terminator, Total Recall, etc. The idea is a treat for every fan of the former Governor of California, but I had fun as well, even though I'm not a maniac for his movies. But what's even more fun about Austrian Death Machine is the fact that they hired a guy imitating Arnold's voice. During the songs it is used rarely, but seven out of seventeen tracks on this record are short interludes, mainly presenting dialogues between Schwarzenegger and Tim Lambesis. They are quite funny, and they give you the chance to catch your breath between the relentless metal pounding.

I'm pretty sure that it was the idea of having an Arnold Schwarzenegger-tribute band that was the cause of creating Austrian Death Machine, not an attempt to explore different musical territories by As I Lay Dying's frontman. Even though it may sound as a poorer version of AILD, it brings a lot of joy to the listener with its vitality and, most importantly, the mocking nature of Tim Lambesis' project.