When you think of Switzerland, Thrash Metal isn't the first thing you think of. Most people think of bands like HELLHAMMER, CELTIC FROST and ELUVEITIE. Apart from HELLHAMMER, many of the countries heavy hitters don't fall into the Thrash category. Just like anywhere else in the world, though, Thrash is alive and well, notably with band's like Lausanne's ALGEBRA, who, with their second full-length album, "Feed the Ego", is pushing European Thrash beyond the demise of the Thrash revival of the late 2000's.

This is, throughout the whole record, a straight up Thrash record. There is an obvious SLAYER influence, especially with regards to Chaos Edy's vocals, but they manage to have their own sound rather than be an imitation. "Survival Nowadays" and "Prisoner Outdoors" set the tone high straight away on this record. The album's best song is the powerful and disjointed "Necessary Evil", which is a lesson in musicianship. The track that immediately follows it, "My Shelf" is the closest thing on this album to a ballad; whereas "Necessary Evil" heavy and disjointed, this track is melodic, and starts out as quite relaxing, but gradually gets heavier as the track progresses. "Profound Guilt" is another really fantastic song that showcases the band's SLAYER adoration, especially in the guitar solo, which has the trademark Kerry King whine to it. "Feed Me More" slowly builds into a bona-fide Thrash Metal anthem. "The Fort Broke" is easily the heaviest track on the whole record, and makes one final effort at completely hitting the listener with a wall of riffs. The final song, "Monotask", is mid-paced, but nonetheless brilliant, and it is on this song that the album comes to a close. In terms of musicianship, this album is great from start to finish.

This is really catchy Thrash. It goes from extreme heaviness to melodic licks in a short space of time, and it's rooted in the classic bands of the genre without sounding dated or clichéd. This is Thrash in all its great and myriad forms; and above all, it's heavy.<