These Arms Are Snakes
This Is Meant to Hurt You
Jade Tree (2003)
The sticker on the front of this CD's jewel case is going to sell lots of copies of it, I guarantee. It reads "Featuring former members of Botch, Kill Sadie, and Nineironspitfire," and the name of that first band will get people buying in droves. And then, most likely, many of those who buy it will return it because it sounds almost nothing like that first band, but instead has far more in common with the latter two. The people who return this record are fools. These Arms Are Snakes have presented one of the most invigorating EPs to bless my eardrums in years. It's at once interesting, innovative, and extremely enjoyable. The record is full of supremely great moments, starting with the opening track, "Riding the Grape Dragon." It's middle-eastern tinged between-verse guitar lines, along with the haunting intro riff which appears later in the song, fit along perfectly with the frantic vocal styles; the song eventually breaks down into two seperate guitar lines bouncing off each other, then erupts in the last minute. "Run it Through the Dog" hits you from the front with a full band assault and a heavily processed vocal attack that cuts down to … Read more
