I have a broad taste in Metal music, I never considered myself as a thrasher but at least as a loyal supporter of the cause, maybe because I was a teenager in it's terrific birth in very early 80's (I still remember with poignancy my first listening to ACCEPT's "Fast As The Shark"), and from that day, Thrash & Speed Metal never failed to have a strong impression on me, I was never tired by this style but I never turned with the same intoxication ecstasy into the following Death Metal evolution.

So when the whole Thrash Revival phenomenon occurred in the 2000's, I was back in my way again as a pilgrim knight fighting for the Metallic Valhalla, I always enjoyed with a constantly renewed perspective this kind of unadulterated Metal music and its yet juvenile tricks or codes, I was never bored by the harsh vocals and the banshee's screams, I constantly had a soft spot for this highly distorted sound and the sharp guitars are still magnetic and quite addictive, still exciting for me while the double bass pace under a sonic assault has been pumping in my veins for the last three decades and regardless of the fashion or commercial peaks and lows, I remained true to this former genuine stainless spirit.

Last year saw another exceptional flow of Traditional Thrash Metal Releases invades the market , published under the old school banner hype, such as the superb F.K.Ü. "4;Rise of the Mosh Mongers" , the ruthless HAVOK or DARKANE's amazing latest and also WARBRINGER ("IV Empire Collapse") or "Skull" by EVILE , this fresh new year seems to be on the same tortuous path with this "The Virus Conspires" published by the best Norwich's very own outfit : SHRAPNEL under the expertise of UK's Candlelight Records.

The level is set in a pretty impressive height, because this furious CD contains everything that we love and cherish in this timeless jubilant sound, crated in an almost perfect Metallic orthodoxy, indeed this high-octane album reveal that this band are among the finest new gangs to proclaim proudly their absolute devotion to this almighty genre, its savagery is intact and they are armed for fueling the glorious Thrash flame and keep it blazing forever.

But SHRAPNEL's music is serious, not only about Nostalgia or not just as a cliché, a dictation under a recurrent doctrine rules, but they also injected some new fierce elements along to the numerous references and the sheer components of this such tagged Imperious Steel, those additional ingredients borrowed in the superb NWOBHM toolbox or clearly uplifted in the more contemporary Metallic mode, are only there to spice up the whole Head-banging experience... From the nasty devastation of Teutonic gods DESTRUCTION ("22") to the melodic flavors of TESTAMENT ("The Wake"), from DARK ANGEL's riffage ("Titan"/"Red Terror") to EXODUS intensity ("Kingdom Come" / "Poison the Mind") meets the redoubtable HEATHEN's tightness (the closing Anthem cut "All That We Know" which is my personal favorite) or the groove of MACHINE HEAD ("Braindead") or the British savoir faire of modern ONSLAUGHT ("Pseudocommando") and even the clever ANNIHILATOR's like staccato signature & creativity ("The Watchers") to the precision skills of FORBIDDEN developed in the title track, they seems to have acquired each and every bits of the recipe perfectly, the whole wrapped in a crisp and bright Production provided by compatriot Russ Russell  (EVILE).

The musical performances are faultless, technically challenging but not really complex, their music is mostly concentrated on the pristine energy their goal is to breaking your fucking neck, slashing your ears without mercy and bringing you to your knees to finally get you ready for another lesson in violence. With its eleven tracks of pure lava, unadulterated Brutality and perverted sounds, discharged right in the legendary legacy inherited from the Bay-Area elders and over, "The Virus Conspires" is an album that will feed the immortal fire that burns vividly within the HM Maniacs hearts.