Baptized in the Rio Grande

Baptized in the Rio Grande

Hailing from a small Texas town near the Mexican border, these metalists sound like what would result if you mixed early Metallica and Pantera with hints of culture and blues from their home region. The album’s torqued on thrash guitars (especially “Never Bury the Hatchet”), sing-along scorchers (“Blameshift”), and old-fashioned hard rock (“The Vestryman,” “Texas Trim”). Surprisingly gentle turns temper the thunder, too (“It’s 12 a.m. and my boys are in bed,” sings frontman Mark Morales on “Pull It and Fire”). The production by Josh Wilbur (Lamb of God) is ably in-your-face, and the muscular rhythm section (featuring the brothers Villarreal) pulverizes.

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