Almost forty years ago, when bands like METALLICA, EXODUS, TESTAMENT and FORBIDDEN were defining the thrash sound around the California Bay area, across the pond their long-haired English brothers were doing the same.  Bands like SABBAT, ACID REIGN and XENTRIX were doing their own thing- stripping metal down to its bare-elements and stepping on the gas pedal. And like their California counterparts, XENTRIX is enjoying its own third act (well, with the exception of METALLICA whose act was pretty much abandoned after "Master of Puppets," but that's a whole other article.) After releasing the well-received "Bury The Pain" in 2019, the Lancanshire crew have just dropped their latest album "Seven Words."  In the spirit of the album title, I hereby accept the challenge to summarize this disc in exactly seven words: XENTRIX has made a thrash metal banger!

Much of this success is due to new singer and guitar player Jay Walsh, who joined the band during the writing of "Bury The Pain" after the departure of original singer Chris Astley. "Seven Words" is Jay's first real contribution, having written the lyrics on nine of the ten songs. His voice is classic thrash: a fuller, deeper version of Tom Araya's with occasional forays into classic "Master of Puppets"-era James Hetfield.  These may seem pretty on the nose for comparisons, but they are apt.  Walsh ends his consonants hard and will often let notes go on a la Hetfield, but without the "Battery"-like delay. It's a perfect fit for the awesome riffs that fill this album, like the boxer's glove over the fist that's about to knock you out cold.  And this album hits like that: it's a Muhammed Ali confidence, riff after riff after riff.

First song "Behind the Walls of Treachery" starts the carnage off with a single guitar playing the melody over a militaristic beat on the snare, before the band kicks in and Walsh and lead guitarist Kristian Havard forge ahead with the harmonies on the riff. Then the band blasts off into some classic thrash-metal downstrokes, Walsh singing so fiercely that it seems like you can feel the spit flying off his lips through the speakers.  "New task, new name/Same mask, same stain!" screams Walsh on the song's chorus. "Another day to build a wall for tomorrow/Same vein, another war for tomorrow!" Havard comes in at 4:00 with a ripping solo, before both he and Walsh harmonize on another tasteful and memorable melody, the guitars drop out, the bass rumbles, and they churn through the chorus a couple of more times.  It's confident, aggressive song-writing, and indicative of what is to come on the rest of the album.

The title song comes next. "It's only seven words of war: 'The end of this has just begun'. Seven words. 'No love lost, bring me the chaos!," sings Walsh.  Lyrically the song- like most of the songs on this album- deal with the vagaries of war.  As metal kids that came of age during the height of the 1980's Cold War, metal artists on both sides of the pond were obsessed with the inevitability of nuclear war.  METALLICA, EXODUS, DEATH ANGEL- and XENTRIX included- built their metallic foundation on the bodies of the dead, lands laid to waste by the destruction of nuclear bombs and the slow, fatal fall out that would lead to the end of the world as we knew it.  These bands were just here to supply the soundtrack.  And XENTRIX is telling us that this story isn't over- that we haven't learned from our mistakes- and they'll be happy to pound it into our dull, collagen-plated skulls.

"Everybody Loves You When You're Dead," one of the strongest tracks, comes about halfway through the album. It's a mid-tempo thrasher, the type that encourages the spinning of drumsticks and the banging of heads.  It introduces one of the tropes that XENTRIX whips out throughout the album.  Bassist Chris Shires gets a chance to carry the weight, as the guitars drop out with Walsh growling over the rolling baritone groove.  It's another homage to the greats of yesterday like ANTHRAX and MEGADETH, who made this a huge part of their own sounds.  The trick carries over into the next three songs- another mid-tempo banger "Reckless With a Smile";  "Ghost Tape Number Ten," which is about audio tapes made by the American Army during Vietnam to psychologically break the North Vietnamese into believing the Buddhist afterlife wasn't much of an afterlife after all; and my personal favorite "My War," which may have nothing do with the same song by BLACK FLAG, but hits just as hard.

Muhammed Ali had 37 knockouts in his storied career.  On "Seven Words", XENTRIX has produced ten KOs of their own, laying others to waste.  This is a clinic in classic thrash metal song-writing.  While they've stuck to the template, each song has enough punch in the riffs and enough power in the melodies to keep these songs standing long after their opponents are unconscious on the floor of the ring.  It's inspiring to see guys who were part of  the advent of thrash over thirty years ago still going out there and writing music that sounds absolutely fresh and relevant.  To sum things up (in seven words, thank you very much): XENTRIX are here to blow your minds!