Another original thrash metal album that deserves praise from Metallica, but not as much as it's two predecessors. The atmosphere is much less dark than on their previous release entitled "Ride the Lightning". The music is still intense and quite unique. The riff structures are somewhat technical, especially if you're a guitarist like me and you look at it from that perspective. The songs are pretty basic featuring an acoustic part on "Battery", clean guitar pieces on the title track and "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)". The rest of the album consists of chunky crunch tone guitars that are quite admirable. They are also innovative and intriguing, quite memorable also.

All of the tracks display an array of various different tempos. I would say that they're filled mostly heavy thrash parts accompanied by James Hetfield's yelling that rightfully suits the music. He sings in a clean fashion on "Welcome Home (Sanitarium), but for the most part he's pretty effective in orchestrating outputs which are very dark, just not as dark than on their previous album. I'd conclude that he's still angry dishing out these lyrics that are rightfully hateful and destructive. The song structures are pretty basic, but still fast and tough to keep up with them.

There is an instrumental entitled "Orion" that's quite lengthy and features a pause with just a bass lick about halfway through the song. On this recording, it's a little bit easy to hear Cliff Burton's efforts via bass guitar than on their previous release. It's not as distorted as on their debut album, but it still meshed well with music. His talent is unprecedented and it's tragic about his death in a tour bus accident. If he was still with the band, I think they would have never changed their style of music. The real reason why they changed I think was to appease their fans and sell out. The first 5 Metallica albums are good and the rest are just terrible.

Kirk Hammett's solos are still fast and furious, just not as technical as on their first few releases. However, I do believe that his efforts are very well constructed and blues guitar based like on their first two albums. He uses that wah pedal a lot, which is especially noticeable on "Disposable Heroes" and "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)". As a guitarist, it's tough to emulate his solos because they are quite amazing and very much tremolo picked throughout this album. Just not as technical like I mentioned. Even James Hetfield plays a lead on the title track during the clean tone guitar part.

My personal favorite tracks are "Battery", the title track and "Damage, Inc." All of the songs are good though and the band doesn't compromise. The production is decent with each track well mixed. The drums by Lars Ulrich mesh well with the guitar riffs and his efforts are quite unparalleled. Overall, he doesn't let up on putting in some great work that is in constant unison with the music. Everything in the production/mixing department went well, but you have to really crank up the volume because it's a little bit low which is the only beef that I have with the production.

Metallica put forth a strong follow up album here, though it's less dark, but still considered to be thrash metal. Each song is captivating and noteworthy. The guitars are blended well in both in rhythm and lead segments. The music is catchy and sticks in your head, especially on the chorus parts. Every band member contributed a great deal to the metal community and it deserves praise like it's predecessors. If you don't own it and you're a thrash metal lover, YouTube the songs that I mentioned and hear for yourself what the songs sound like. Own it now!

Follow up release from "Kill 'Em All", Metallica's effort here features 8 tracks of the very most admirable thrash metal to the core. The quality in production isn't the greatest, but it may have to do with the band's financial situation at the time. So, in effect not all of the instruments are heard to a great extent unless you blare the album. Mainly the bass could've been turned up a little bit more because it's barely audible. Nevertheless, Metallica managed to concoct another original thrash metal release. Pure innovation here. Another great one by pretty much the founder of thrash metal genre itself.

The guitar riffs are wholly impressive, fast paced for the most part, and entirely filled with songwriting genius. The crunch tone of the guitar is very likeable if thrash metal is your favorite genre or even if it isn't. Songs like the title track,"Fade to Black", and "Creeping Death" are favorites of mine, but all of them are noteworthy and unique. The bands' acoustic guitar use on "Fade to Black" has one of the most unbelievably well constructed main guitar melody. No Metallica ballad can surpass that acoustic guitar riff ever. It is impeccable and a pure exoneration of their songwriting advancement.

These songs aren't very technical guitar wise, but "Fight Fire with Fire" is a very fast paced track with riffs unimaginable and very intense. Solos by Kirk Hammett are fast and furious plus very well constructed and consist of wah pedal licks with amazing mixtures of blues influenced technicality. Just about every solo on here is wholly fast and well confounded. All of the tracks have unique song structures that stick in your memory and could never be played out. This goes for the first 5 Metallica releases, then degeneration into pure destruction that was tragic to see such talent go to waste.

James Hetfield's vocal outputs are intense with less screaming than their predecessor, but still feature the hate fueled lyrics that are mixed with hoarse throat. He sings with a clean voice on the acoustic parts of "Fade to Black". However, as the song progresses, a heavier vocal output is exhibited on the crunchy tone guitar. For every song, he is quite angry and intense. The vocals mesh well with the guitar riffs. A moderate use of back up screams are exhibited on here. Overall, every single track has worthiness and some more so than others, which is typical for an album.

The drums by Lars Ulrich exhibit a great pound into your skull with even some double bass kicks that are featured on "Fight Fire with Fire". His executions on each track are well played out and rehearsed to suit the music. Not a track on here lags in this department as Lars has very good skills and mechanics which are well mixed into the production sound. His abilities are far well embraced and utilized on every song. The production/mixing as was previously mentioned wasn't the greatest, but still very worthy of value. Again, I just had a hard time hearing the bass guitar. It's audible only if you crank the volume.

To reiterate this point, Metallica was pretty much the founder of the thrash metal genre itself. "Ride the Lightning" is a very dark and intense album in this genre and shows how well this band matured from their first full-length release. The production quality again is the weakest, but even that is debatable. This album remains to be my favorite release by the band because of its originality and desolate atmosphere. YouTube some of the songs that I mentioned to see what I mean in terms of quality thrash metal galore. If you're a fan of thrash metal and don't have this yet, get it now!

This is the 4th studio release for Metallica while they remained a thrash metal outfit. A more technical approach to songwriting and probably the most out of their entire 1980's discography. At the time, this was the first release that I owned by the band. It really got me into thrash metal. Not only was the music dark, but it showed a more technical approach to their songwriting.

Remaining musically doomish and dreary in terms of the song features, this is probably the heaviest release of theirs. Even though some tracks portray clean and/or acoustic guitar melodies, the actual songs are really depressing. That seemed to be Metallica's focus for this album. This remains to be one of my favorite releases from the band.

An introduction to this release begins with lead guitar melodies that segues into a much heavier, E-tuned guitar riff for the song "Blackened". All of the songs are lengthy. The last track entitled "Dyer's Eve" was still well over 5 minutes in length. The tempos for each track vary. Not all of them are downright fast though many melodic especially on the title track and "To Live Is to Die". This song was a tribute to Cliff Burton (RIP).

They remained innovative regarding to the guitar riffs as well as the leads. Kirk Hammett still does a good job in the lead department, though less technical than on "Ride the Lightning" and "Master of Puppets". Hetfield belts out some seriously heavy rhythm guitar structures. His vocals are more hoarse than prior releases though it definitely accompanies the music and overall atmosphere.

Hetfield has a lead guitar part featured on "To Live Is to Die". It's not wholly technical at all and I figure that they wanted to create something that fit the clean electric part which takes place in about the middle of this song. Also, the introduction to this track was an acoustic guitar which then flows into more distorted electric parts. Probably their longest song overall throughout this whole album and 1980's discography.

The title track is lengthy also and filled with clean parts mainly for the introduction but not the entire song at all. There's also a ballad which also became a video. That was something that Metallica wasn't too keen on doing in their earlier days. However, "One" was a huge success overall. But mainly to a darker audience. I don't think that they anticipated going mainstream with it.

Sound quality wise came out more fluidly than previous 1980's releases. This was thanks to Flemming Rasmusson's contribution for the mixing. The only complaint though would be that the bass guitar efforts by Jason Newstead seemed to be totally void. Hearing all of the tracks and not one of them you can really tell that there's bass included on this album.

The focus in terms of the lyrics dealt with society, corruption, inner struggles and anger. Hetfield belts out some seriously heavy throat as previously mentioned. He seemed to really sound like a death metal vocalist spewing depressing lyrics in a much greater magnitude. His only cleaner voice is featured during the clean guitar moments for the song "One". They didn't do any cover songs at all.

This album is their last as a thrash metal outfit. As I said previously, it's their heaviest and darkest release ever. The best tracks to hear are "Blackened", "One" and "To Live Is to Die". All of the tracks are noteworthy though. The ones that I mentioned are my favorites. Their songwriting
here was probably the most creative though some would challenge this view. A sad farewell to the Metallica of the 1980's.

This album begins with a lightning fast picked E-Tuned guitars (Hetfield & Hammett) which sets the pace for what the CD is going to be like. Well in this era of heavy metal Metallica was considered not only to be thrash metal, but speed metal as well. Finely produced by Paul Curcio and Jon Zazula, this entire release is something easy to get into if you're a fan of these genres of music. Metallica circa 1983-1988 I'd say put out uncompromising metal which during the 80's was considered pretty extreme.

As to what road they went during the 90's to present day does not reflect anything at all like "Kill 'Em All". It was blatantly obvious with the release of "The Black Album" they simply abdicated their thrash metal roots and completely sold out. But focusing on this album, the rhythms and leads are innovative, Hammett simply shredding on lead and Cliff Burton (RIP) puts out his talent on bass with "Anesthesia - Pulling Teeth". You could actually hear the bass guitar not only on that track, but all of them entirely. Fuzzy bass tone.

There really aren't many thrash acts during the 80's that were more innovative in songwriting quality than Metallica. Although I do consider Slayer, Exodus, Testament and Anthrax were also some damn good thrash bands as well. But Metallica reigned superior over these other bands. Musically "Kill 'Em All" has guitar riffs that are simply unique, awesome, distorted as all hell and memorable tracks from beginning till the end of the album.

I would consider this album to be one of my most played out records that I've heard, but I still am not sick of these songs. It's a shame that a band that displayed so much potential which is evident on this release all the way up till "...And Justice for All". I think that if Cliff Burton was still around they probably wouldn't have taken their thrash roots away and become a total waste musically. Maybe some would argue this but I believe that he would've at least kept them within their thrash/speed metal origin.

The lyrical aspect of this release has nothing really to do with Satanism, just filled however with hatred towards humanity without any compromise in that respect. Hetfield's vocals go well with the music especially the high-end screams. I don't consider this release their best of the 80's I'd say "Ride the Lightning", "Master of Puppets" and "...And Justice for All" were their absolute best releases. However, this was a beginning for the band and showed their awesome potential at such a young age.

Metallica used to scoff at the idea of making videos. However, after "One" came out they began to make more music videos to make more money obviously. That's why I'm reiterating the point that if Cliff was still around they wouldn't have become "Metallisux" as coined by most old fans of the group. But "Kill 'Em All" is pretty much everything good that I look for in a thrash/speed metal release. If you don't have it already in your archives then I urge you to pick it up ASAP!!!

No need to introduce this band since they've been around since 1983. These death/thrash genres that Vader falls into have nothing but good riffs, solos, vocals and songwriting on this album. Everything that's positive in terms of the music is there. There's no lagging from a musical aspect. Another album that you can listen to over and over and never get sick of. I don't own any other Vader releases, so I can't really compare this one to their previous ones. But there's much to say about this latest release by them.

2011 was a year of disappointing metal releases. This was one of the albums that didn't fall short of fan's expectations. Vader fulfilled everything musically and they're only a 3-piece on this lineup. 14 tracks of purely dark and unrelenting darkness that has an enormous amount of energy put into the music. The riffs were catchy and the tempos varied. That crunch tone of the guitar was most noteworthy. It sounds like they tuned down their guitars to make them fit in with the morbid setting.

Peter's vocals were deep for the most part but backup screams were also present on here. Both guitarists had some really killer leads. The drums were going with some fury on tracks that had faster tempos. They fit in well with the music. No lagging in that department at all. Amazing songs that clocked in about an average of 3-4 minutes in length. There were some instrumentals too as well as bonus tracks. "Troops of Tomorrow" was a killer ending to the album.

The production/mixing was awesome, but it was difficult to hear the bass guitar. That's the only real negative thing to conclude about the album. The rest of the instruments blended in smoothly to the mixing. Really memorable songs that expend death/thrash to the core. YouTube "Come and See My Sacrifice" because it's a good track to check out. The tempos on all songs varied. A lot of tremolo picking galore. The guitars were again at a perfect chunky tone that suits the double genre fitting.

If you're a death metal fan or a thrash metal one, well Vader fulfills both of these genres so "Welcome to the Morbid Reich" well suits these categories. Again a great album to listen to repeatedly and can never become distasteful. The overall musicianship was amazing. No mistakes and everything came together on this one. No leads that were misplaced or overused, variety in tempos, and dark as hell. Purchase this one because it's so worthy of praise!

Slayer's origin dates back to 1981 when the band was founded by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King. Tom Araya then joined playing out the parts of bass and vocals. Dave Lombardo decided to join on drums soon thereafter. Their first release "Show no Mercy" was a great debut though it wasn't entirely flawless. But for a debut, it was good enough to convince fans to check them out as a thrash metal outfit. "Hell Awaits", their follow-up release wasn't as good as I expected it to be. People found it to be something that should not miss out on. It just wasn't striking to me. "Reign in Blood", their 3rd full-length album was probably their most solid output for the time. Some of the most brutal speed infected songs are featured here on this release. The album is completely no holds barred form of thrash metal played at it's finest.

As far as the guitar riffs go, they are wholly technical and innovative. Not only that, but they are played with such spell bounding energy. It's really incredible. No track on here is boring or a complete waste. I'm assuming that their main focus here was to achieve a high level of success as far as the songwriting goes. All of the song tempos are totally and astonishingly fast. It's really baffling to the listener. Pure crunch distortion for the guitars that hardly ever seem to let up. I'd consider "Reign in Blood" to be one of the best thrash metal releases in history. The reason that I make this assumption was because all of the songs were spell bounding in intensity. They are all original sounding. Nothing here is copied from anywhere else. Previous releases showed their potential and here on "Reign in Blood" is where they shined their most.

"Angel of Death", their first song on here begins with a totally fast technical riff which gives the listener an idea of how the rest of the album will sound. It's one of the longest songs on here but is in no way lacking in originality. The tempos varied on every song though for the most part they were all very fast. The E-flat tuned guitars punch out some mind boggling riffs and other songs were in more brief moderate speeds. Musically speaking, Slayer demonstrates on here that they were not a force to be reckoned with. No real melodic songs are featured only pure deafening thrash metal. Really brutal and Araya's vocals mesh well together with the guitars. His outputs feature shrieking screams during some tracks and others that are way fast. A good example of the fast vocal output would be for the song "Necrophobic."

Aside from the crunch festered guitars, the bass is somewhat audible and Lombardo's drum outputs were solid. He keeps up the pace for each song and so does Araya's bass guitar playing. Tracks that were also notable besides "Angel of Death" would be "Piece by Piece", "Reborn", "Jesus Saves" and "Raining Blood." Slayer exonerates unique songwriting capabilities here as a 4-some band. They definitely matured as an uncompromising thrash metal band. Their previous 2 releases gave their audience potential as a band. "Reign in Blood" successfully fulfills that potential much more so then other thrash metal bands back in the 1980's.

The lead guitar pieces by Hanneman and King are way technical here. It's difficult to tell the difference between the 2 guitarists. The only way really is to view the insert that accompanies the CD. Though Hanneman said in the past that they show this so that people don't think that his solos are King's. They both show real talent however and the other band members are also very well versed. Araya's vocals/bass guitar playing is quite up to par with his fellow band mates. Lombardo definitely does a great job on drums keeping up in time with the guitar riffs. Probably their most technical release to date, "Reign in Blood" defines the way thrash metal should be played. That would be in a totally hardcore fashion. Production and mixing was really done well. Each instrument was blended together to form a strong and awesomely founded release. The rhythm/lead guitar, bass and drums were fit in together. This was what lacked from their previous 2 full-length albums. Rick Rubin did a great job here working alongside the band to enhance their studio efforts.

Lyrically speaking, Slayer's Satanic and anti-religion topics form the bulk of the songwriting. Their whole lyrical approach is a gimmick anyway. They aren't Satanists even though they chose for this release and prior 2 to talk of these topics. However, it blends well with the music. They wanted to keep that "underground" approach I suppose. Their previous albums also reflect this Satanic worship sort of style to their songs. They shouldn't throw the listener off because "Reign in Blood" is such a classic release from the band. Thrash metal isn't played much finer than this. The original album doesn't feature any cover songs here. It's good that they're entirely originals. This shows what talent the band has entirely.

Even though this was Slayer's 3rd full-length album, it sure shows a lot of maturity from a musical standpoint. Other bands such as Exodus and early Metallica showed their talent as well though Slayer never decided to give up their thrash metal roots. With "Reign in Blood", we see them to be playing at their finest. Pure originality, brutality and uncompromising thrash metal. Very intense album. They didn't wish to cash in and put out something that would sell out like Metallica did. People that wish to hear uncompromising thrash metal that's totally original, pick up "Reign in Blood." You won't be disappointed. It's a total personification of how thrash metal should be played.

This release was Slayer's 4th full-length studio effort. Though not as fast and speed oriented as their energized predecessor, "Reign in Blood", the songwriting still showed a different approach by the band. Their tracks focused more on a slower and more diverse riff structure to them. The lineup consisted, once again, with Tom Araya on bass/vocals, Kerry King on guitars, Jeff Hanneman on guitars and Dave Lombardo on drums. These were the first founding 4 members. This lineup seemed to work the best for the band. They all reflected a more mature writing strategy, which focused more on constructing solid songs minus the craziness that occured during the bulk of "Reign in Blood." They slowed down to construct a solid, more mature release than on their previous 1980's releases.

Their genre still stays in the thrash metal category. That hasn't changed, only their musical focus was different. They seemed to show more catchy songs as opposed to a more blitzing array of riffs which were featured on their predecessor, "Reign in Blood." Araya's vocal efforts were way less intense though there still were some screaming that he portrayed on the track, "Live Undead." With "Mandatory Suicide" there were some spoken parts near the end of the song. This wasn't featured on any of their previous 1980's releases, only on this one. Araya focused more on belting out contents that were mixed well with the music and were easier to understand. However, he seemed to lack some intensity to his outputs. It meshed better, because as was previously mentioned, they wanted to create a better constructed musical approach with this release.

The music contained crunch tone guitar riffs that seemed to accompany Araya's vocals more fluently. Tempos varied to some extent but the guitars reflected a more mild form of Slayer than on previous efforts. The music was wholly original and noteworthy. Songs such as the title track, "Silent Scream", "Live Undead", "Ghosts of War" and "Spill the Blood" were very catchy. Despite slowing down so much, these tracks carry with them an array of intriguing components. They still focused on an underground sound, which displayed the album's concept. Slayer's technical side of the riff-writing was shown on "Silent Scream", "Read Between The Lies" and "Spill the Blood." There was an actual clean tone introductary guitar piece during "Spill the Blood" which occurs towards the middle of the song. Something like that didn't accompany any of their past 1980's releases.

The production was solid and the mixing for each instrument came together well. Rick Rubin was, once again, involved on this end as well as the band. The playing, especially during the guitarists lead guitar works, were less technical than Hanneman's. If you look on the insert, it shows who the lead belonged to. This was mainly done because Hanneman didn't want the public to get confused and think that his leads were King's. He has stated this in previous interviews. Lombardo's drum efforts were phenomenal and was right on cue with the music. His playing was greatly conducted and quite technical. Not every track was entirely fast, however. Araya's bass guitar work was also right on top of the main rhythm guitar works.

Song contents focused more on warfare despite the album title. They were really intelligent and well thought out. The songs shyed away from Satanism though they did contain some bits of anti-religion topics. They didn't form the bulk of writings. Though "Behind the Crooked Cross" steered away from warfare to reflect the downfall of religion. The bulk of their lyrical writings are a gimmick anyway. They're not professed Satanists. There is a cover song on here entitled "Dissident Aggressor." It was originally sung by Judas Priest. Slayer executed this cover very well and it fit well with the album's concept.

Even though Slayer's playing slowed down here, they still were able to concoct a solid and original form of writing to their songs. The music was quite memorable because of the unique guitar riff structures. They seem to get embedded easily into the listeners brain. The leads weren't as crazy as on "Reign in Blood" but that didn't take away from their wellness in execution. The band's overall playing demonstrated much talent. They focused on better conducted riff structures and time signatures much more so than with previous releases. This release was, by far, not stale or boring. A definite classic release by them which shouldn't be excluded in your Slayer discography. Worth picking up and it won't dissappoint.

First formed as Legacy between 1983-1986, the band changed their name to Testament in 1986. This best of/Compilation features selected tracks taken from their first two releases "The Legacy" and "The New Order." The line-up here was Chuck Billy on vocals, Steve "Zetro" Souza on guest vocals, Alex Skolnick on lead guitars, Eric Peterson on rhythm guitar, Steve DiGiorgio on fretless bass and John Tempesta on drums. Not all of the original members were on this compilation. Their former bassist Greg Chrisitan and drummer Louis Clemente were absent from this compilation. Their replacements did a better job than the two previous members. They seemed to exhibit more talent and achieved a better outcome in their execution for these songs.

Thrash metal has always been Testament's genre of music. They've never changed their style even with the line-up changes over the years. So it's safe to say that they never "sold out" like Metallica did. Of course not their entire discography was entirely interesting but at least they stuck to their roots. This best of/Compilation was a good idea though because it brought listeners back to where they originally used to be in terms of the selections from the first two releases. Though they cut out some parts from the originals and/or tailored a few riffs, the ingenious songs still held precedent with this newer best of recording.

Songs held much more crunch tone guitar riffs to them with the exception of the introduction of "Trial by Fire" and "Burnt Offerings." They did take out part of "Disciples of the Watch" but the execution was still well played out by Peterson, et al. These newer recordings I developed a liking to because of the overall intensity of the main riffs, way technical plus reverb enhanced style leads, right on cue drumming and finally, the main vocals as well as the guest vocals. I'd consider this compilation to be very mature and the riff contents to be more fluent than the originals.

All of the tracks that the band selected to be on this compilation were very good choices. Knowing of this band for more than 20 years, I have come to the conclusion that "First Strike Still Deadly" is one hell of a great concoction of remakes. Not a step backward but a better and more fluent examination of the band to see what they seemed to reiterate with these newer thrash metal remakes. The rhythm guitar parts were better than the originals because of their technicality which weren't as affluent as was on the first recordings. Peterson tailored some of the riffs though for the most part his strategies with doing this fit well into a more solid foundation.

The production sound of course was so much more audible and every vocal output as well as the instruments blended very well to form this phenomenal compilation. The leads by Skolnick were of course technical and he enhanced some of his leads by adding reverb to them. That was something different than the originals and in turn fortified the release in an astonishing way. Heavily jazz influenced leads but they mixed well with the rhythm guitar riffs. Everything on this compilation was astonishingly accurate and well executed. The tracks were extravagant and the playing showed how talented this band was during this re-recording.

In terms of the lyrical concepts they seemed to focus mostly on religion, society and suffering. Very intriguing topics and well executed vocal outputs by Billy and guest vocalist Souza. Neither vocalist seemed to exhibit any high pitched screams or yelling at all. It was good that the insert came with the lyrics attached to them because it's difficult to understand Billy's vocal outputs. His style of singing reflects a more rough throat whereas Souza seemed to show a different approach and acquired taste. Both of their efforts fit the music well much more so than on the originals. The songwriting was entirely intelligent and appropriate in accompanying the musical efforts.

It's difficult to understand why many listeners concluded that the original tracks were better than this best of/Compilation. There's not a track on here to dislike. The intriguing guitar riff structures were so well compiled to a degree that has kept me listening to this entire compilation numerous times without it ever going stale. This compilation was so amazingly produced and well executed by all contributors. To give this compilation anything less than a perfect rating would do it a great injustice. If you are a fan of vintage thrash metal played to the point of perfection, then do yourself a favor and pick up this best of/Compilation.

Originally from Germany and founded in 1982 under the name Knight of Demon, the band decided to change their name to Destruction after a few weeks. They've undergone several line up changes over the years and seem to have found their most solid one that is currently featured on this album. This includes, Marcel "Schmier" Schirmer on bass/vocals, Mike Sifringer on guitars and Marc Reign on drums. They seem to function better as a 3-piece outfit but for this release they did include several guest backup vocalists and lead guitarists. With Mike doing the riff-writing, Schmier taking the responsibility behind the lyrical concepts, and Mark staying up to par on the drum set, this seems to have formed a more solid foundation for the band.

Over 25 years in the musical arena, Destruction has been playing thrash metal that has been musically driven by Mike, et al. These 10 tracks show, without any question, to be another very mature and comprehensive release. Mike's riff-writing concepts exhibit many galloping structures with songs as well as technical bits that accompany Schmier's unique vocals. The songs output are intriguing, catchy and energy stricken. In addition, they are entirely flawless arrangements. They are displaying very uniquely driven original tracks. The beginning of the album features an acoustic guitar riff melody which flows perfectly into a heavily crunch tone guitar assortment throughout the song and, for the most part, the entire album. This paves the way for an allotted and ingenious array of songwriting structures. 

Again from a musical aspect, the title track seemed to catch me the most out of this entire album. The rest of the songs still show a solid assortment of riffs, which captures Destruction fans as being a sound and uncompromising outfit, which never cashed in on their musical style just to sell records. Besides the title track, the whole album exhibits a heavy tone to it, which remains one of the band's best songwriting releases since "The Antichrist" back in 2001. "Inventor of Evil" didn't catch me as much as this current one because I found it to be a little more stale within the songwriting components. "D.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N." is a monumental concoction that catches the ear with an utmost of well engineered tracks. This entire release clocks in at around 50 minutes in length.

Mike's rhythm guitar work is much stronger than his leads. This has always been the case which is probably why Destruction chose many guest lead guitarists. In no way do I discount his talent, but his rhythm guitar riff executions are very technical though his solos are not. They seem to be more improvised and lack a fundamentally based assortment of works. He doesn't seem to reflect much clarity in designing solos that contain arpeggios, sweep picking and highly tremolo picked outputs. As a result, Destruction sought out other guest lead guitarists because Mike falls a bit short in this department. Schmier and Marc follow Mike's rhythms with utmost precision. Schmier's vocals sound like no other thrash metal act in existence. He displays a style which is wholly original and highly sophisticated.

In regards to the lyrical writings, Destruction focuses on a plethora of topics here on this release. Schmier writes about his views on religion. If you research his profile on Destruction's official website, he refers to religion as being the biggest lie of mankind. Other topics here include his perception on politics, addictive drug use and heavy metal music itself. These are a broad range of writings that seem to make up the whole of Destruction's past and current lyrical concepts. During the 1980's era, Schmier focuses mostly on Satanism and anti-religion aspects. His writings on this release shy away from those previously stated. Another note to add, the US version of this album does not feature the Tank cover that's on the Japanese release.

Another classic and monumental thrash metal release Destruction belts out once again. "The German Thrash Metal Legend" still remains in effect and without a doubt does not disappoint the listener whatsoever. Originality in the guitar riff writings, the wide plethora of contributors both on leads and backup vocals, puts this release amongst one of the finest in years. It's another definite classic because of the songwriting, the production sound, the unique guitar works and sets Destruction in a thrash metal category of its own. Songs to check out if you're not convinced would be the title track, "Offenders of the Throne" and "Odyssey of Frustration." If you're keen on the genre of thrash metal, don't let this release shy away from your collection.

This vintage German thrash metal band was originally founded under the name of "Tormentor", which they used for a few years before changing it to "Kreator" in 1984. Two original members are left, Miland "Mille" Petrozza on vocals/guitar and Jurgen "Ventor" Reil on drums. The newest members are Sami Yli-Sirnio on guitars and Christian "Speesy" Giesler on bass guitar. Their best lineup, however, would be the one that transpired during the "Coma of Souls" era. This is the eleventh full-length release for the band, which includes some of their greatest studio work since "Violent Revolution." Aside from "Coma of Souls", Kreator of the 1990's didn't strike me as much as their more recent releases. They switched back to focusing more on their older thrash metal roots. This is where the band shines the most. When they abdicated from their older and more aggressive approach, I lost interest.

"Enemy of God" features total melodic thrash metal guitar work that sticks with the listener in an utter and total amazement. In terms of analyzing the entire album, it has its peaks and valleys in their guitar executions. Some tracks are more memorable than others. This release is monumental for many reasons. The music features heavily tremolo picked guitar melodies, gallops and bar chords. There are some songs that feature acoustic guitar parts and spoken words, but not in its entirety. The release primarily deals with fierce written thrash metal riffs, raging tempo changes, clean guitar parts and total originality to its musical writing. This newer band's approach has taken an energy-laden action by going back to their aggressive thrash metal writings.

The variety of this album is heavily orchestrated thanks to frontman "Mille" Petrozza. All of the songs captivate the listener, especially during the bridge and chorus parts and, most notably, during the title-track and "Murder Fantasies." The latter track includes Michael Amott, who exhibits a short, whammy bar lead guitar part. Thrash metal doesn't get executed much better! Its well produced and recorded instruments are well mixed together. You can hear every guitar riff, guitar lead, bass guitar and drum work with an utmost clarity to it. As for the overall playing, the only thing that were not very effective were the guitar solos. That is my most critical statement of this released by Kreator. There was just no real innovation in this aspect.

The lyrical concepts focused mainly on death, religion, politics, war and terrorists. Some of the most intelligent words that I've heard from a band in this category. The lyrics mesh well with the guitar parts. Aside from the brilliant guitar work, the lyrics are a close second. The album doesn't feature any cover songs or live tracks. It's just under 60 minutes of ingenious thrash metal. In summation, thrash metal doesn't get comprised better than in this phenomenal album. With so much originality and variety, Kreator belts out one of their best works out of their entire discography. As was previously mentioned. the lead guitar parts to each song are nothing spectacular. However, the melodic guitar riffs and lyrics are the highlights. If you're still skeptical, be sure to check out the title-track and "Impossible Brutality" first.