Reviewed by Tony Cummings

Not being a thrash specialist (anyone who's seen my photo will see I'd be somewhat out of place in a mosh pit), I realise I'm risking the wrath of Britain's metal heads by speaking out but... This album is rubbish. The way I read the situation, thrash metal was an exciting new extension of the metal genre but is fast running out of creative steam and in the process is losing much of its audience. Vengeance Rising (originally Vengeance) were once the white metal team everyone was talking about, but after a sparkling debut album was followed by a pretty dire one, they now complete the decline with an album which has all the noise and aggression but none of the subtlety. I suppose producer, Vengeance vocalist Roger Martinez has to carry the can (quite an appropriate phrase considering the tin can sound of the snare). Despite having lyrics "submitted for theological review" by two eminent theologians, this is noisy, vacuous nonsense. Mr Martinez is doing a great job with his work as pastor at the Sanctuary Church. It's a shame I've had to give his band's album such a...er...thrashing.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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