I was quite excited upon hearing the news that Hank Shermann, of MERCYFUL FATE fame, had partnered up with Craig Locicero of FORBIDDEN to collaborate in a Thrash band. Shermann's work with MERCYFUL FATE and even FORCE OF EVIL often had a thrashy vibe, and his style of guitar playing was very influential to many guitarists of the 80s thrash movement.

With Shermann and Locicero is Klaus Hyr, who is best known for some work with Danish metallers FURIOUS TRAUMA. Fellow FORBIDDEN member Mark Hernandez is on drums.

Opener "Demon Class" was a bit of a let-down, I was expecting a bit more intensity and more soloing, but things start to get really good with "Ghost Hunt" (which includes some titillating guitar solos). When this band decides to thrash, they are unbelievable. Locicero and Shermann both let loose and Hernandez really does a forceful job on the drums.

I've seen some reviews complain about the fact that some songs are slower and rely more on a groove. This, in and of itself, would not be a bad thing, except that those type of songs on this album aren't very good. "Luscious Damned" relies on a simple groove and sadly does not pick up or change up, leaving a boring song that kills the momentum of the album. "Palace of Class" is an uninteresting nu-metal song that not even some great solos in the middle can save. Album closer "Astronomica" is another let-down. At over 8 minutes in length, I was expecting a thrash epic, but instead all I got was a frail instrumental that seems like a suppository for leftover ideas from the sessions.

Also, vocalist Klaus Hyr, while having his moments, is mostly a detriment. He seems to come from the Rob Dukes school of screaming and instead of adding something to the songs he is a part of, he acts more as a placeholder, someone who fills the need for someone to scream the terrible lyrics so that these songs aren't instrumentals.

Even though there are some songs here that sees the band fulfilling its potential, such as the aforementioned "Ghost Hunt" and "My Tongue," there are other times where there are great moments of a song that are tarnished by pedestrian riffs or singing, thus keeping the entire song from being enjoyable. Too often are songs elongated by typical chug-chug riffing, which is made even worse by the modern but mallcore-esque production. This may not be as bad as the thrashy fast-food that TENET put out, but honestly I was hoping for more.