Energising whiff of the Bay Area: CHECK
Soupçon of Teutonic mayhem: CHECK
Slayeresque bit: CHECK
Some Megadeth, for the guitar nerds: CHECK

And that’s all in the first three and a half minutes!

If that sounds a bit carping (It does – Ed), it’s not meant to be. The observation, like the music of Psykosis, comes from a place of love, but it is stated as a musing on just how formulaic nu-thrash has become in recent years. It’s almost as if the band needs to get this stuff out of the way early, like a statement of credentials that’ll help them get access to ‘the club’, with all the promise of delight those two words might hold.

That’s bollocks, of course, or at least it should be. In a fairer world these Irish thrashers would be able to go about their business unmolested by the constraints of ‘convention’ ripping out their simplistic but very effective wares to any and all with ears to hear and not a care for conforming to the norm. But life isn’t fair, and so we have Mind Games…

Funds clearly stopped the band from getting a Repka-spawned cover, for that surely is the sort of sleeve tracks like Hard Reset deserve. These boys know their thrash onions, right down to the last muscular gang vocal, and it has to be said you cannot fault their wild-eyed commitment to the cause. Best track Tossed to the Dogs sounds like a crazed fusion of Overkill and Exodus, with lead guitarist Grant Walsh wrenching a truly inspired solo from his tortured axe, whilst Mutant Mass gives a more crossoverish slant to the theme that’s very welcome to these ears indeed.

Well played, well sung and well produced, it’s probably best to celebrate Mind Games as a rollicking tribute to the glory of thrash metal rather than lamenting it’s lack of flair or imagination, and if you crave fast-paced thrills without the need to over intellectualise about what you’re listening to, then I can’t recommend this album highly enough. It is hugely enjoyable, and sometimes that’s what we all need, right?

Mind Games releases on May 1st