HEAVEN THE AXE: Sex, Chugs & Rock n Roll

Released: May 2011

Readers who recognise the names Manticore, Damaged and Abramelin will know them as three of the most extreme Australian metal bands of all. So the idea of members of each of those bands teaming up together would certainly be an intriguing one for those of us who remember or have ever been exposed to their brutality. And that's why Heaven the Axe is probably not the band you would expect them to play in.

Formed in Wagga Wagga as a straight-up rock band by Steve Watts and Phoebe Pinnock, after the pair moved to Melbourne Watts linked up with old buddies from the metal scene there and gradually moulded Heaven the Axe into a much heavier band. Sex, Chugs & Rock n'Roll is the result of that tinkering, nine tracks of explosive, sexy heavy rock.

Pinnock is a brazenly honest songwriter and her lyrics range from the angry ("Enemy") to the heartfelt ("Unconditional Love") to cheeky fun like "So Nirvana" in which she likens the local hoon hottie to the classic Nirvana line-up like a naive, coquettish schoolgirl. This song is HtA at their poppiest and shows their clear commercial potential. The ballad "Unconditional Love" has an almost Kasey Chambers vibe until it starts to really rock out about the two minute mark and the question has to be asked: Why isn't this song all over the radio? Elsewhere, Sex, Chugs & Rock n Roll is sheer rock heaven, but with a ferociously metal guitar sound and incredible heaviness that could only come from guys who used to play in death metal bands. Indeed, at times it seems like Pinnock's chirpy albeit powerful voice is almost too pop for the savagery of the rest of the band, and yet it just clicks.

Despite its poppy hooks, Sex, Chugs & Rock n Roll is probably too heavy to become a chart hit but it should become a solid favourite for those who like rock, because that's what it does.

1. Enemy
2. Masochist
3. Electric Wire
4. So Nirvana
5. (GI-intro)
6. Glue
7. Get Your Devil to Do It
8. Unconditional Love
9. Tails to You
 
Rating: 70%