Insurrection Rising

It seems like almost none of the "New Thrash" bands get any respect at all. After years of whining that there were no Thrash bands, now the heshers complain that the increasing crop of new acts isn't "as good" as the old ones. All of this, it seems to me, is a huge load of shit, as most of the "greats" weren't that good to begin with. A careful perusal of the classic Thrash albums will reveal that pretty much only Show No Mercy and The Ultra-Violence are still worth anyone's time.

Savage Messiah are one of the new Thrash bands that is definitely worth your time. For some reason, a lot of bands end up hitting ‘groove' when they aim for ‘thrash', but Savage Messiah actually sound like a Thrash band. Heavy riffs, furious speed, blazing leads. They keep the drums at the obligatory 4/4 a lot of the time, but they don't make the mistake of forcing the guitars to trudge along, and they let their riffs fucking fly when they want to fly. The guitar sound is thick and chunky, and the chugging rhythm work reminds you of why they call it Thrash. Vocalist Dave Silver seems to be getting some flak, apparently from people who don't understand the concept of ‘thrash vocals' and want him to sound more like a Death Metal singer. Those people are retarded. Silver's tuneful but aggressive style is perfect for this band.

If SM have a weakness, it's that none of these songs are really extraordinary. They are all good, solid Thrash tunes, and this is an extremely consistent album, but there are no songs that really jump out at you. I always hope bands this heavy will catch on and get even more melodic, as hooky melodic riffs combined with the locomotive crunch they already have could punch this band into the master class. Worthy.