voila_la_scorie Hazzerd's brand of thrash metal is the higher tone type with vocals that make them sound like they could be a punk/thrash crossover band, except I haven't heard that they ever played any punk rock. Drummer/vocalist Dylan Westendrop must get part of the intensity in his voice from having to play the drums so fast! Lyrics are your typical themes about corrupting societies and chemical health hazards. If I have overlooked something, I apologize.

There is, however, something else lurking in the rapid fire thrash guitar playing and maximum overdrive steam engine speed, and that is a desire to show off a higher level of musicality which comes up in two instrumental tracks, "Call of the Void" and "The End". Here we have finger-picked acoustic guitar, clean electric guitar, and lead guitar that is melodic and beautiful at times and even approaching neo-classical style in "Call of the Void". It's a bit like finding the classical guitar parts of Metallica's "Fade to Black" and the melodic parts of "Orion" on the "Kill 'em All" album. Personally, I think these instrumentals add something to what could have been a fairly straightforward thrash metal album and give the band more cred as musicians whose skills go beyond playing standard thrash metal.

Another point I like about this album is that there are two or three tracks where the bass comes forward. It's not for long but I always find these moments of "stop the six strings and let the four string walk to the front of the stage" contribute to a track's interest.

A track that I just have to mention is "Dead in the Shed", which is about a young, garden shed drug chemist named Bill who makes LSD for the neighbourhood junkies. "Stay on drugs and don't do school," is his moto; however, Bill ends up overdosing and dying in his shed and no one finds him until his corpse stinks too much for the funeral home. Lyrically, it has a dark sense of humour but also warns against drug abuse.

Because of the more skate party thrash tone I picked up early on, I wasn't as thrilled about this album as some other thrash albums I got around the same time. Listening more carefully, there are actually a few tracks that really stand out for me, "Illuminated Truth" and "Waking Nightmare" being two more that had me checking the track listing.

A pretty solid trash album that shows a band aspiring to possibly evolve into something more.