Municipal Waste - 'Electrified Brain' Album Review

Track:

1. Electrified Brain

2. Demoralizer

3. Last Crawl

4. Grave Dive

5. The Bite

6. High Speed Steel

7. Thermonuclear Protection

8. Blood Vessel / Boat Jail

9. Crank The Heat

10. Restless And Wicked

11. Ten Cent Beer Night

12. Barrelled Rage

13. Putting On Errors

14. Paranormal Janitor

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I find that I am in the mood to listen to an album of short, sharp, angry, Metal full of fast riffs, impassioned vocals and a widdly solo or two. If you have similar thoughts, then I feel I should definitely point you in the direction of 'Electrified Brain' by Municipal Waste.

As a band, they sound as if they listened to classic Thrash Metal albums (Kill ‘Em All, Reign in Blood, Among the Living etc) and came to the conclusion that the genre didn’t need to improve on perfection, and instead they are just honing that classic style – and they do it very well.

Fourteen tracks may feel long for a Thrash Metal album, but there is only one song over three minutes, and the rest are just a short sharp shock to the system. You might worry that this means each song is one note, sticking to just one riff or one idea, but that doesn’t happen here either.

One of my favourite tracks “Restless and Wicked” starts of at a breakneck speed, before slowing down for the solo section, and then slamming back into the speed for the final verse and chorus. Essentially, you are getting mini bites of Classic Metal whenever you listen to any of these tracks.

The one thing that it’s hard to get away from is that it does sound a bit dated. It hits perfectly for me because I have a lot of nostalgia for Thrash Metal from the 1980s, but with the production sounding similar to those classic albums of the time, some may be put off if you don’t have any nostalgia for this sound.

In short, if you are a fan of eighties-era Thrash, then this album is definitely for you. If you are a fan of metal in general, give it a try – you’ll soon find out whether it works for you. If you don’t want to try the whole album and are just looking for some recommended tracks, find about seven minutes of your time and listen to “Demoralizer”, “Restless and Wicket” and “Putting On Errors”. After those three you’ll know whether this is an album for you.

This album isn’t going to break any barriers, but I don’t think it’s trying to. This is just a breakneck, enthusiastic, Thrash Metal album that sounds like it could have come out in 1987. And if that sounds like your sort of thing, put it on right now!