While most of the songs on BRMC’s sixth studio album, Beat the Devil’s Tattoo, would work great in the closing shot of any revenge flick, after the hero has killed off his enemies and he starts to walk off into the sunset, its not everyday you’re in the mood for vengeance. BRMC is sticking strong to their grinding guitar heavy, diabolical “just did something awesome and I’m driving home” sound but the substitution of guitar effects for any real riffs is becoming a problem.

The album’s self-titled opening track is great and the first few songs really peak your interest. The rest of the album however is a hodgepodge of “same-ole, same-ole” sprinkled with a few gems here and there. The haunting “Long Way Down” might be the best track on the album and the folky ballad, “The Toll” is a fresh sound for this black-leather-coat-and-metal-chain rock outfit. The bottom-line is that 13 songs is too many for an album from a band like this. Their sound doesn’t lend itself well to this many songs. Too many sound the same and there isn’t enough diversity to prolong your interest. They should have been more selective in what made the final cut as the album clocks in at 65 minutes when you really only need about 45-50. The ten-minute closer “Half-state” is a complete mess that manages to capture the unsavory dizzy late-night feeling of too many whiskey shots and a head full of cigarette smoke. Ugh. But at the end of the day BRMC still made a decent album better than most other “heavy rockers” out there. While nothing really pushes the envelope, the band has enough going on here to excite fans old and new into checking them out on their summer tour. And itsn’t that what it’s all about?

The album is currently steaming in its entirety right here.

B.R.M.C. – Beat the Devil’s Tattoo