Hacksaw

Toronto's Hacksaw play crunchy, down and dirty AC/DC riff rock in the vein of Texas's Go to Hells and Sweden's Hellacopters. The band manage to balance their heavy guitars with some classic-sounding grooves, keeping songs like "Blood from a Stone" from crossing over into the wank or joke metal zone. All of the tracks here are mid-tempo rockers, making for a dense, consistently head-bobbing kind of listen. Standout tracks include "Streets," complete with a funny sample from the skateboard movie Thrashin', and the anthemic bonus track "She's Got My Back." The only real sore spot I have with this record is that the lack of variety in the song tempos keeps the energy of the album at a slow simmer when it could use a few over-the-top boiling points.