Downfall - Punishment For The Infidels (Memorial Records) 2017
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If 2017 was the year that thrash returned to the forefront of extreme music, then Downfall would be waving the flag of solid revival for a genre that is deemed old-school. Somewhere among Sepultura’s early and tribal death metal-esque, Slayer’s in your face attitude and Metallica’s influential Kill Em’ All, Punishment For The Infidels is a crushing groove-infected effort that demands your full attention. Thrash metal shouldn’t be safe and it shouldn’t be predictable, and these dudes now that pretty well, that’s why they’re not scared of hitting notes outside traditional thrash giving their riffs gallops, even better thrills, but that can be excused when everything else is executed with an overwhelming passion and ability.