Reanimator
Thrashin` The Neighborhood

September 2007
Released: 2007, Galy Records
Rating: 3.5/5
Reviewer: Lord of the Wasteland

There seems to a resurgence of eighties crossover and thrash currently making waves in the metal community. Merciless Death and Municipal Waste have both come to light recently but Montreal’s Reanimator is also waving the flag first raised by bands like D.R.I., Kreator, Exodus, Slayer and Anthrax. On their debut E.P., THRASHIN’ THE NEIGHBORHOOD, Reanimator unleashes seven slabs of old-school influenced thrash metal that bristle with razor-sharp riffs and plenty of groove. The vocals need some work but that is a minor issue with the overall package. These guys are definitely well-acquainted with their BONDED BY BLOOD, KILL’ EM ALL and PLEASURE TO KILL albums but avoid reducing themselves to a novelty act by copping the riffs directly. Instead, THRASHIN’ THE NEIGHBORHOOD injects a certain freshness to the tried-and-true formula that has worked for over twenty years.



Julien Lefort and Mathieu Allard kickstart “Raising The Dead,” “Breathless Birth” and “Black Bones” with a fiery gallop, the riffs immediately reminiscent of the Bay Area thrash scene of the mid-eighties. It’s impossible not to catch just how close the main riff of “Roadkill” is to “Master of Puppets,” either (watch out, guys…Metallica is known to be a wee bit litigious!!). “Venom of The Beast” explodes with a fierce aggression and Petrick LePirate’s vocals are similar to the abrasive shrieks and growls of Kreator’s Mille Petrozza. The band has obviously been touched by some New Wave of British Heavy Metal, too, as the guitar solos and pounding gallop of “Roadkill” and “Stuck On The Shores of Hell” hearken back to classic Iron Maiden, complete with a prominent bassline on the latter that would tickle Cliff Burton as much as old Steve Harris himself.



THRASHIN’ THE NEIGHBORHOOD is not breaking any new ground, nor is the album going to revolutionize metal. It is, however, a biting cut of nostalgic thrash and Reanimator (surely a tweaked nod to the classic track from fellow Canadian thrashers, Sacrifice) do what they do well. Short, sweet and to the point, THRASHIN’ THE NEIGHBORHOOD gets the job done.



KILLER KUTS: “Raising The Dead,” “Venom of The Beast,” “Roadkill,” “Breathless Birth”