GODSLAVE - German Thrash Metal With A Positive Attitude! This, according to their website and social media, shows a band with a sense of humour and a focus on having their music supply a much needed outlet from the daily insanity that most of us have to deal with. From the opening track, "How About No?" this band establishes their chops with a hand-cramping and incredibly tight guitar pattern that rockets into a windmill chord verse. It starts off with a classic thrash drum beat and guitar harmonies before diving into the ferocious attack of right hand speed strumming. Vocals are a snarling, barking high tenor, more shouted than sung and they are full of defiance and attitude. Key lyric is roared at the end, "Focus and Resist!"

Title track, "Positive Aggressive" is more of the same - straight up thrash in the vein of the EXODUS, TESTAMENT, and OVERKILL. Guitarists MANNI and BERNIE are incredible, delivering a tight and unrelenting barrage of crunchy riffs, tasteful solos, and impossible strum patterns. Production is pumped up and slams your head against the wall with some of the best guitar tones I have ever heard. Drums are big and full without sounding dated and drenched in reverb. "Straight Fire Zone" has a slick guitar harmonic rake that sounds too perfect not to be cut and pasted but as an effect, it's pretty damn cool.  Solo is slightly buried in the mix, I would have preferred the leads up a bit for the whole album overall.

"From Driven" feels like it picks up in tempo if that's even humanly possible. The chorus is a gang vocal shout that should kill live. Nice bass break in the middle. There's also a surprising groove element to most of this material that adds a welcome element of stylistic diversity. The pre-chorus is almost funky, and that's a good thing. "King Kortext" brings the speed down a bit and just freight crushes you with 1/8th note chugging chords. Vocals are more melodic and sung rather than shouted. Good dynamic change of pace. Like a rollercoaster, "Show Me Your Scars" is back to hyper speed in the verse leading to a big, open chorus.

"Final Chapters First" closes the album strong with beautiful harmony guitars and a pummeling beat. POSITIVE AGGRESSIVE is a very well-executed thrash album that pays tribute to the past without being afraid to forge its own identity. GODSLAVE has been around for a bit and they have settled into a very comfortable attitude of good humor and a mission and message for us all- "When the show starts, there is only one rule: FULL FORCE FAST FORWARD!"