ANVIL – Pounding The Pavement

From Pound For Pound to Pounding The Pavement, Canada’s long lived Anvil reliably delivers songs heavy enough to take a beating and come out unscathed. The band’s 17^th album is loaded with raw, uncomplicated Traditional Metal. There are no surprises here. The album is well mixed and the songs don’t require deep analysis. They either hit the mark, or they don’t. It’s the beauty of Anvil. It’s Brainstem Metal.

In true Anvil form, the first two songs hit the bullseye. “Bitch In The Box” is a humorous tirade against GPS navigation aids. With crunchy riffs dripping with hooks, a sing-along chorus chanted at a pace a toddler can follow, and a foil everyone can hate, it’s easy to rally behind this song. “Ego” has the same swagger and showcases the band’s chops at high speed. The next two song’s titles, “Doing What I Want” and “Smash Your Face”, indicate the song writing effort. Both feature riffs repeated ad nauseum and lyrics which careen past tongue in cheek and take the off ramp for ridiculous.

The lyrics for “Doing What I Want” sound a bit defensive “… critics try to bash you, take your worth away, doesn’t matter what they think, even less in what they say…” The hits and misses continue in remaining tracks. Highlights include the title track instrumental reminiscent of “March Of The Crabs” from their 1981 album Metal On Metal, “Black Smoke” channeling Motörhead and “World Of Tomorrow” with a riff lifted from Black Sabbath’s “Sweet Leaf”.

Recommended for fans of Anvil who will enjoy adding some of these tracks to their collection.

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Tracklist

1. Bitch In The Box 4:29
2. Ego 2:57
3. Doing What I Want 3:17
4. Smash Your Face 4:20
5. Pounding The Pavement 3:05
6. Rock That Shit 3:21
7. Let It Go 3:00
8. Nanook Of The North 5:57
9. Black Smoke 3:26
10. World Of Tomorrow 4:37
11. Warming Up 3:03
12. Don’t Tell Me 3:51 (Bonus track)

Members

Steve “Lips” Kudlow: guitars, vocals
Robb Reiner: drums
Chris Robertson: bass