UMUR "The Art of Partying" is the third full-length studio album by US crossover thrash metal act Municipal Waste. The album was released through Earache Records in June 2007. It´s the successor to "Hazardous Mutation" from 2005.

The material on "The Art of Partying" is a continuation of the thrash/crossover metal style of "Hazardous Mutation (2005)", and if you´re familiar with the predecessor you´ll find very few surprises here. The music is raw, energetic, aggressive, and predominantly fast-paced (although the tracks also feature mid-paced heavy sections). Raw shouting vocals and riot gang backing vocals, sharp thrash/hardcore riffs and rhythms, and the occasional lead/harmony guitar moment. The lyrics are about drinking beer, partying, and fantasy/horror stories. It´s like listening to the audio version of the "Toxix Avenger" (Troma Entertainment movie series). Campy and silly, but also greatly entertaining. Song titles like "Sadistic Magician" and "Septic Detonation" tell the story better than any description can. Or how about "Lunch Hall Food Brawl", "Born to Party", or "Thrashing's My Business... And Business Is Good".

Municipal Waste are a well playing band, and lead vocalist Tony Foresta knows most of the tricks in the thrash/crossover metal vocalist book, and although he ultimately doesn´t have the most distinct sounding voice or unique delivery, he gets the job done...and done well. "The Art of Partying" features a sharp, clear, and detailed sound production, which suits the material well. A little more grit and rawness wouldn´t have hurt, but this is arguably a well sounding production. Campy and silly, and an image and lyrics which are not meant to be taken too serious, "The Art of Partying" is however dead serious when it comes to the quality of the songwriting and the overall product and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is fully deserved.

Kev Rowland It is hard to believe that Municipal Waste have been around for more than 20 years now, and they keep producing crossover thrash metal as if it is a lot earlier than that. Just seeing the name of the band makes me smile as I know what is likely to be on offer, and that is exactly what we have here again. Four of the guys have been playing together since 2004, while Ryan Waste and Tony Foresta have been there since the very beginning and even “new boy” Nick Poulos has been there six years and played on the last album, 2017’s ‘Slime and Punishment’. They had started work on this when the pandemic broke, which impacted a band who live on the road, but it meant they could concentrate fully on this as there was no tour to get back to, and the result is something which in many ways is their most complete offering to date.

It may only be 34 minutes long, but the 14 tracks pack a great deal in, in that time. It comes in, kicks hard, and then is gone again. As Tony says, ““We’re not writing any love ballads to sell records, we’re just doing what we’ve always done since the band started—and that’s try to write fun, fast, and ripping hardcorepunkmetal.” With this band what you see is what you get, a party band who are out to have a blast and take their listeners along for the ride. True, it can be somewhat one-dimensional, but overall, this is a fun album, with songs like “The Bite” showing there really are some diamonds here to be uncovered. If you miss the days when old school thrash when music like this was everywhere, then be confident that unlike many bands, Municipal Waste have stuck to their core and are still delivering like they always have.

UMUR "The Fatal Feast" is the 5th full-length studio album by US crossover/thrash metal act Municipal Waste. The album was released through Nuclear Blast Records in April 2012. It´s the successor to "Massive Aggressive" from 2009. There have been no lineup changes since the predecessor. Crossover thrash metal along with the more traditional thrash metal style have experienced quite the revival since the turn of the millenium, and Municipal Waste have been one of the most successful acts playing a combination of those two styles. Listening to "The Fatal Feast (Waste in Space)" it´s quite obvious why that is.

The music on the album is crossover thrash metal with an emphasis on aggression, catchiness, and relentless energy. The vocals by Tony Foresta are snarling and aggressive, the riffs and rhythms are sharp, thrashy, and at times fast and hardcore punk oriented and the drumming energetic and powerful. Municipal Waste master all the basic tools to write and play crossover thrash metal. You´ve probably heard it all before, but seldom this sharp and professional. Don´t be fooled by the often goofy "cartoonish" lyrics (check out song titles like "Covered in Sick/The Barfer" and "The Monster With 21 Faces") or the cover artwork, because these guys can write effectful tunes and they don´t just play...they play really well.

There isn´t much variation to be found on the album and the same can be said between the band´s albums, but whenever I put on "The Fatal Feast (Waste in Space)" I can´t help to smile and my head slowly begins to bang until I can´t stop moving and bang my head like a maniac. It´s such a charming album and it just has that effect on me. Let´s just say I´ll live with the fact that it´s not the most varied album and that it sounds maybe a bit too much like the albums which came before. There´s maybe a slightly darker tone and a little more heaviness to "The Fatal Feast (Waste in Space)" compared to the preceding releases, but it´s details, and overall Municipal Waste is a very consistent act both in terms of songwriting quality and performances.

The album features a powerful, raw, and detailed sound production which suits the music perfectly. The slightly darker and heavier sound production helps the material shine and also make "The Fatal Feast (Waste in Space)" stand out just a bit from the preceding albums. But again we´re talking details. So while "The Fatal Feast (Waste in Space)" is neither the most original sounding nor the most varied crossover thrash metal release out there, it´s still a high quality release in the genre and it´s highly recommendable to people who enjoy fast, catchy, and aggressive crossover thrash. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

Kev Rowland It’s been a couple of years since the ‘Slime and Punishment’ album, and after a few split releases the Virginia metalheads are back with four new songs. They just manage to break the ten-minute barrier, but this is more than enough to show that while they have been away, they haven’t mellowed out at all, and are still as violent, thrash and punk as they have ever been. This isn’t a band that one can ever imagine producing a delicate ballad, and instead know what their fans want and are going to deliver just that time and again. It is hard to believe their debut EP came out as long ago as 2001, but Municipal Waste are going to keep pumping out material like this as if they were new kids on the block. It may not be pretty, it may not be gentle, but it sure is a lot of fun.

Kev Rowland

I’m not sure just how long I’ve been a fan of these guys, but it’s been a while. In some ways, they remind me of Tankard, in that people only see the humour and fun they have, and forget that behind it all there is a damn good band who know exactly what they are about and what they want to achieve. It has been quite a while since their last album, but they’ve still been on the road and have also added an additional guitarist to their ranks to provide them with an even harder and punchy sound. They are still playing thrash/speed metal with a large nod to hardcore, and I have no problem with that at all. To me they always sound as if they have straight out of NYC, even though they’re from Richmond, Virginia, as they have the same sort of feel as many of the bands from that city.

The recording process was different this time around, in that bassist Phil Hall engineered it so the band could record the album themselves before sending it off to Bill Metoyer (known for his work with Slayer, W.A.S.P., Lizzy Borden and Dark Angel) to be mixed. They certainly sound tight, and the result is an album that may not be driving any new boundaries, or even be fashionable any more, but when it comes to recreating the scene of the late Eighties the n few do it much better than this. Turn it up.