There are an awful lot of raw-throated thrash bands treading the boards in 2017, all of them, more or less, with something to offer the discerning ear – is the same true of Vancouver’s Terrifier?

Broadly, yes. The unhinged vocals of Chase Thibodeau are a definite plus point for starters, the man engaging at all times in the sort of wild-eyed raving only the likes of sadly departed Exodus icon Paul Baloff pull off successfully, with his roaring performance on second track Deceiver being particularly note- and praise- worthy.

Beyond this however, the band all too often seem to slip into a sort of riff-and-blast-beat induced coma, happy to drift wherever the thrash impulse takes them without particularly bothering about old fashioned notions like melodies or hooks, riffing like there’s no tomorrow for sure, but not always seeming as focused on the listener’s pleasure as they might.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing – nobody on Sentinel Daily is ever going to criticise a band for bringing too many riffs, let’s face it – but when we’re looking for pointers to why this band is more deserving of your thrash dollar than band (a) or (b), it does become a point worth considering. Nuclear Demolisher features some beautifully fluid lead guitar and accompanying crunching rhythmic accompaniment courtesy of Rene Wilkinson and Brent Gallant, whilst Violent Reprisal is beautifully staccato, hammering at the senses like an aggrieved cold caller intent on sending you over the edge into Thibodeau-assisted aural suicide. This is true old-school mid eighties thrash in excelsis, and it’s the highlight of the album.

The second half of the record, save for the excellent Drunk as Fuck (with accompanying excellent -and very true – lyric heavy metal’s not just music it’s a way of life! ), and the relentless Bestial Tyranny thrashes itself to a bit of a standstill, inspiration wise, leaving the overall feeling that Terrifier have delivered a solid – at times highly impressive – thrash album but might well be capable of lots, lots more. Which means that we’ll be content with WoTD but watching this lot with interest and waiting to see what they come up with next…

Weapons of Thrash Destruction will be released by Test Your Metal Records on January 20th