ANVIL "Legal At Last"

ANVIL

"Legal At Last"

Praise the Almighty, the Weed is Freed at last! Dope is legal all across Canada and now in my home state of Illinois. Here to celebrate are ANVIL and there are few bands more qualified to speak about the subject. The band is now in a pretty productive groove and creating some of the catchiest metal of their career.

The veteran Canucks are a polarizing unit and draw sneers from metal snobs and elitists because their brand of metal is simple, fun and doesn't change much from record to record. To hell with such fools, this is pure metallic pleasure, right from the exhilarating rush of the opening title track. When you see ANVIL play live, you'll find out how incredibly tight they are. "Legal At Last" reminds me of their recent album "Anvil Is Anvil" as it contains a pleasing variety of tunes. You get virtual thrash ("Food For the Vultures"), lumbering anthems {"Nabbed in Nebraska", "Gasoline") and super crunchy hard rockers ("Glass House"). And pretty much all points in between. The production is clear and slick, Lips' vocals are pretty good this time (he's been frankly awful on certain other records). I cannot figure out what any fan of straight and true metal would find wanting here.

The band's lyrics seem a lot more socially conscious than before dealing with marijuana legalization, invasion of privacy, destruction of the environment and conspiracies. No dumb sex lyrics at all this time around. OK, these guys are not on the Neil Peart level, but they have advanced over the years. There's a song here called 'Bottom Line" and when it comes to ANVIL, the bottom line is that they are heavy metal to the bone.

AFM RECORDS

ANVIL