Back in 2012 I heard Prime Cuts and I was pretty damn impressed. I’d never heard the band before and I was thinking “Where has this been all my life”? But it took me a really long time to hear some more of their music and I must say that I might have grown out of this a bit. That doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy, just that I don’t enjoy it as much as I would have 10 ish years ago.

My understanding is that this album is considerably more “metal” than their earlier music, both in terms of overall sound and (presumably) musicianship. It still sounds like crossover to me, if only because Muir doesn’t sound like many metal vocalists, but there is definitely a lot of metal in the riffs, in the solos, some of the drumming and the overall playing ability. (Most punk bands cannot play like this, or will not.)

The riffs are all pretty memorable and the songs are mostly catchier than most thrash. That’s just a nature of this subgenre – punks care way more about melody and songs than metal musicians do, normally – but it also means it’s a pretty accessible release for “metal”.

It’s also worth noting that the lyrics can be quite funny at times. And, as I said about How Will I Laugh, Muir definitely cares more about his words than your average thrash metal lyricist. (Metal lyrics are not very good, on average.) That’s not to say he’s like an all time great lyricist or anything – far from it – just that there’s some thought put in them (even the silly ones).

The sound is pretty good, all these years later, too. I can’t really quibble too much about the mix, even though Muir’s voice is definitely the most prominent thing. I can feel the riffs and the drums are good, though they could be higher. The bass could be higher but that’s like every ’80s metal album, just about.

Pretty good. Would have loved it when I was 25.

7/10