There Will Be Blood

Proof once again that good album art never hurts. I picked this up spontaneously after being amused by the awesomely cheesy cover only to find a pretty good modern thrash band that wears some influence on their sleeve.

First off the production isn't particularly great but I've heard much much worse from more established bands and in all fairness the minimalistic lo-fi sound suits the material.

The songs are all in the vein of late 80's extreme thrash and all are pretty competently executed considering this is a debut album. Bassist/vocalist Marshall Law growls in a higher register yelp reminiscent of Mille Petrozza and even borders on Chris Reifert.

My personal favorite song on the album is Hallow's Eve, judging by the lyrical content I assume it's about the 1978 horror film Halloween. It's perfectly paced, fast but controlled. The guitar solo is played with a surprising amount of feeling and restraint, the chorus just puts it over the top.

Overall, this isn't revolutionary stuff but it's just simple. enjoyable 80's styled thrash. The band certainly has a sense of humour and don't take themselves too seriously (the "bonus track" is the band mimicking guitar sounds). It's just good headbanging fun that I think most fans of thrash will find something to like about. I expect good things from these guys in the future.