I am new to the experience of this so-called Death / Thrash act from Canada, as I have not heard their debut album "Metal Ride". After playing this sophomore CD, which I was sent, and perusing the carnage-laden lyrics, I have come to the conclusion that they are more Death, than Thrash, and fans of CANNIBAL CORPSE, BENEATH THE MASSACRE, KALMAH, BLACKGUARD, and their ilk may find this band to their liking.

The cover artwork is engaging, and I appreciate the graphic nature the band employs to describe the horrors of war. Although, the name of the band is still puzzling me, as if they are referring to mortar, why then do they spell the name differently, and with the unnecessary, obligatory umlaut? This reminds me of the much better female fronted Death / Thrash act MORTILLERY from Edmonton.

I understand the emphasis on brutal warfare, and the slaughter diaries which the band uses to emphasize the gore of war that ensues with heated battle. In fact, I even find some of the song titles to be clever, like "Days Of Our Knives" (As I despise Soap Opera Dramas), or the violent burning imagery of "Let's Deflagrate", I just do not find the music to be as engaging or as dramatic as the lyrics preclude.

I find that after playing the album a number of times I was left wanting more. Sure, I bang my head, and the riffs are heavy, and the drumming is intense; but how does this differentiate this act from countless others? I want to feel inundated by machine gun fire, and gasping for breath, not like I am watching another re-run of "M.A.S.H.".

The first track, after the intro, "Under The Flag" has some groove to it, and I was really hoping a track like "Eat Lead" would have been an AT WAR cover. Their anti-poseur thrash anthem is by far better! I just have to choke then chortle when I hear "Clusterfuck" as vocalist Yolin Lafrenière, who sounds a lot like Nathan Explosion of DETHKLOK begins his onslaught with his grim growling of "C-L-U-S-T-E-R-F-U-C-K !"

Just as I begin to get into the pit of perpetual warfare; feeling the whiplash sting, with my head like a pendulum swinging, the pace comes to a grinding halt, and the more moderate chug of "Trigger Happy" pulls and misfires. I have to question why this song ends the way it does with a guitar upward bended note. "Lock And Loaded" has a bit more appeal, but nothing we have not already literally heard to death!

"Infidels" is by far the catchiest songs on the album, I actually found myself grunting along to it. The clever and almost haunting emotion of "Whiskey Surgery" sutures my wounds, just as "For Glory" opens them up again. The gory and gross "Point Blank" is both upbeat and fast, but once I was whacked by "The Bonesaw", I was chopped in half, and left hanging by a thread.

All in all, the album is not bad, but I expect more from these talented musicians. My main beef which I will now nicely slice and dice is that so much of the music sounds recycled. Each rotation causes me to drift, and lose interest, as the songs like the attrition of war just becomes over-saturated, and even a bit nauseating.

I support the band, but I feel like I just got off a bogus Metal ride - a roller coaster going nowhere. After all the twists and turns, I am back where I began feeling little thrill. At times it can be exciting, novel, and awesome, but overall it is just more of the same. Keep it up guys, I am confident that you will find your niche' and bury the burning the blade deep.