Album Review: Municipal Waste - Electrified Brain

One of the leading and surviving bands of the early-mid 00s Thrash Metal/crossover revival movement, Virginian nutcases Municipal Waste are back with their 7th studio album Electrified Brain.

Having started work on this album before the Pandemic made the globe grind to a halt, the band utilised the extra time to put their all in to the record.

Guitarist Ryan Waste says of the album: “It allowed us to focus on putting together structured songs. We wanted to to diversify some of the tempos and bring in some new dynamics that we hadn’t ventured in to before.”

Charging straight out the gate with the title track followed by the dynamic ‘Demoralizer‘ and ‘Last Crawl,‘ these tracks are full of chugging riffage, soaring solos and thunderous drumming. The insane carnage continues with ‘Grave Dive,’ ‘The Bite‘ and ‘High Speed Steel‘ all of which guarantee a surging mosh pit of epic proportions.

‘Thermonuclear Protection,’ ‘Blood Vessel/Boat Jail,’ and ‘Crank The Heat‘ provide a mid-tempo jam that are no less aggressive and insane as their quick tempo predecessors. Picking up the pace again with ‘Restless and Wicked,’ ‘Ten Cent Beer Night‘ and ‘Barreled Rage,’ the record continues to gather momentum and proves that there are no signs of abating or slowing down. Especially as it descends in to the last section with ‘Putting on Errors‘ and ‘Paranormal Janitor,’ both of which end the record in the high-voltage onslaught that it began with.

At 34 minutes long spanning 14 tracks altogether, Electrified Brain captures the essence of their chaotic “kick you in the face in a mosh pit amidst a sea of flying beer cans” live energy but still maintains the crux of their heavy and loud legacy. The record itself is straight to the point and doesn’t overstay it’s welcome yet is still incredibly fun. It doesn’t take itself too seriously and therein lies the beauty of thrash/hardcore/punk crossover.

Rating: 8/10

Released By: Nuclear Blast

Release Date: 1st July 2022

For Fans Of: Toxic Holocaust, Gama Bomb, Discharge

Favourite Track(s): Electrified Brain, Last Crawl, Blood Vessel/Boat Jail, Paranormal Janitor