Oh jeez, this takes me back. Towards the tail end of the 80s I couldn’t get enough of thrash metal. Many bands were hitting their absolute prime, and Razor was a light that shone bright with their incredible “Evil Invaders” album. Rather than the summoning of demons that was the lyrical fodder for many a thrash mob, Razor had visions of a cyborg-infested future and a violence-filled world as the backdrop to their sonic assault.

After that heyday, many of the prime names in the genre decided to diversify or change tact. Bands slowed down, turned towards black or death metal, or generally failed in clinging on the tails of grunge. in short, the movement lost its direction and with it my attention.

However I have always kept those rose-tinted spectacles at close range, and periodically I’ve put them on and checked in on one of the Canadian “big four”, Razor *

They never really strayed from the path, and Cycle Of Content offers up three-quarters of an hour of relentless, blistering thrash. This is very much of the tooth-chipping school of thrash where you are more likely to be caught in a toxic-walz-moshpit rather than letting you headbang in your own corner. Full contact metal. You have all the required elements – shredding guitars, non-stop pounding drums and fierce barked vocals. It really takes me back to a time when bands like Destruction, Exodus, Sacred Reich or Dark Angel ruled my turntable.

As I mentioned, there is no respite, Razor pound you from the first to the last moment of this album. Be prepared! Tom Chapman

* That Canadian big four? Try Razor, Sacrifice, Annihilator and Voivod for size…