Hawg Jaw - "Don't Trust Nobody", 2006

Although "Send Out the Dogs" featured enough unreleased and hard-to-find material to be considered a full-length, as well as sounding very consistent throughout, "Don't Trust Nobody" is actually the sophomore effort by Hawg Jaw, and at the moment of this review, it's the last release by the band. It's weird to think that in almost 20 years since then, the band haven't released anything else, not even a 7-inch, despite having been occasionally revived for a local show in Louisiana; all three Hawg Jaw albums were unexpectedly remastered and uploaded to the streaming channels in 2021, but that was it. While we're at it, the remastered version of "Don't Trust Nobody" actually sounds better than the 2006 original, featuring more prominent drums and bass; in general, the production seems to breathe a bit more, and some dropouts in volume that appeared in the original mastering, specifically on track #4, "Believe Nothing", seem to have been rectified. This said, it's not like the original CD/LP release sounded bad, save for that slight mastering issue mentioned above; the album was recorded at Festival Studios, a legendary Louisiana facility that in the 90s and early 2000s produced a slew of classic, high-profile records such as Acid Bath's "Paegan Terrorism Tactics", Crowbar's "Odd Fellows Rest", and Necrophagia's "Holocausto De La Morte" - all hailing from Louisiana - as well as an underrated banger such as Crisis's "The Hollowing".

Stylistically, "Don't Trust Nobody" pretty much abandons most of the Eyehategod influences found on previous records, and it doesn't even entirely fall under the generic sludge metal umbrella, at least not if you expect slow, fat riffs, southern-fried guitar licks, or crushing, doomy breakdowns; on the other hand, it doesn't even sound as manic, angular, and unpredictable as the stuff on "Send Out the Dogs". It's basically a more hardcore-oriented, straightforward record, starting with the vocal approach of Dares, who definitely favors his gruffer, groove metal-ish tone this time, aside from the occasional detour into more corrosive, higher-pitched screams, sounding not too far removed from Lamb of God's Randy Blythe. The singer's lyrics dig into personal reflections about life, people, and society; they display his nihilistic, self-destructive personality, as well as possessing a cinematic quality when describing degraded places and situations, fittingly complementing the album's uncompromising attitude. 

The songs generally move at a lively pace, ranging from mid-tempos to punky skank beat rhythms; they often evolve into slower sections where the band builds up some tension by introducing choppy, menacing riffs, often erupting in even more caustic and bludgeoning parts. The opener, "Stranger in the Window", as well as "Believe Nothing" and "Random Acts of Knifings", are among the songs that could better sum up the direction of the record; there are some episodes that stick out for being slightly different, though, such as the moodier "Bleed It Dry" - alternating eerie clean guitar parts and unexpectedly fast blast-beats - or the more throbbing "Amongst the Vultures", driven by an excellent pattern by drummer Matt Williams. If the Eyehategod echoes are few and far between, the Outlaw Order similarities still abound, with many of the riffs sounding akin to what we will hear on 2008's "Dragging Down the Enforcer", a record that resembles a perfected version of Hawg Jaw, probably also thanks to Brian Patton's contributions. 

During its 32 minutes, the album gets a bit samey, though, and it doesn't play in its favor if you consider its relatively short running time; on the other hand, there aren't any truly bad songs on it either, and if experienced as a whole, it sounds very consistent and riff-heavy. While the material on "Send Out the Dogs" was a little more creative and edgier, as well as featuring a larger use of scream vocals and weirder tempo switches, "Don't Trust Nobody" is probably the most accomplished Hawg Jaw effort, from the better production to the consistency of the tracklist; it's a very cohesive record, and the band was clearly about to peak at this point. It could have been a launchpad to greater things if the band had more chances of breaking out of the South and branching into broader territories with its live performances; a small label such as Emetic Records obviously didn't help much, and the band kind of floated in limbo for the last 19 years, while Mader went on to tour the world as Eyehategod's bass player. It's the same fate as many other excellent Louisiana underground bands, such as Choke or Suplecs, still playing mostly locally after several outstanding records, but isn't it the sad plight of hundreds (or thousands) of bands around the world?