Onslaught : "Generation Antichrist"

Going into this I should tell you my favorite album from these guys is "In Search Of Sanity". This is because Steve Grimmett from Grim Reaper sings on it. Yes, it was still a thrash album. Yes, his voice did lean it more in the direction of power metal. In the 80s there was a side of thrash that had power metal in it's veins, even Flotsam & Jetsam has a more liberal touch of it on their first album. This is the band's first album with this singer. He is no Steve Grimmett. Nor is he even trying to be. They are going in a more Exodus like direction. It's heavier and this guy has a growl to his voice. Most of hte vocals are in the aggressive thrash shout rather than sung. They are still a good thrash band. They still know how to write songs.

It takes about 6 songs in before it all begins to sound the same to me. The vocal approach does play into this as this guy is pretty much a onbe trick pony at this point until he proves different . The last song that really stands out is the darker meaner vibe to the title track, which like many of these songs is at a fast chug so has the momentum to not become a boring listen. It might be my favorite track so far . These guys know how to write a riff with teeth and make the most of it. The songs begin to run together during "All Seeing Eye" . Much like death metal , thrash can just color with a monchrome aggression, though the vocals lend themselves more towards hooks. There is more of a moshing stomp to "Empires Fall". Lyrical this song might be the most fitting for the current state of the world. I do like the chant of "disorder, choas dominates". That is the kind of energy we need out in the universe .

They are not Satanic, but attack religion from more of a socio-political angle. I do not like politcs in music , but I think these guys go a good job of sticking out their middle finger to the systme rather than taking sides, since lets face it both sides are getting their paychecks signed by the same board of directors. Sometimes they go about it in a way that Slayer already does better like on "Religousuicide". Thre fact they pour on the speed only brings more attention to this fact. They lean more toward the death metal side of thrash on the last song. As far as thrash goes in 2020 these guys do a solid job despite the fact the guitarist is the only orginal member. I will give it an 8.5. This comes out August 7th on AFM Records.