MASS MADNESS is a Death-Trash band from Moscow, Russia with an assault-driven musical mentality that might've been born if ARCH ENEMY and THE HAUNTED had a bastard offspring that renounced the Melodic touches of the former and the Hardcore elements of the latter in favor of a Thrashier and rawer focus along the lines of TOXIC HOLOCAUST or SODOM while never quite getting rid of their origins. MASS MADNESS came about back in 2009 and released their self-titled debut 2 years later, and now in 2014 they're back with their rather well titled follow-up album, "Rise Again".

And if there was ever any doubt what these guys are out to do, it will be eradicated about 5 seconds into the album, as the first track and title track, "Rise Again", kicks off into an aggressive riff and into some unapologetic, unrelenting Death-Thrash. And what you hear in this song is what you will hear with little to no alteration until the 6^th track comes around do slow things down ever so slightly, after which the album returns to its one-trick formula all the way to the end. There isn't any album highlights or stick-out songs, because they're all so similar and on-par, in terms of quality and content.

So the question is, does this one-trick formula work for MASS MADNESS? My answer: Yes. While I couldn't exactly find anything I'd call great about "Rise Again", there's also nothing bad about it in any way: The songs are all reasonably well-produced high-paced car chase soundtracks that'll get people headbanging, mosh pits rolling and giving Death-Thrashers exactly what they want; no-nonsense Death-infused Thrash with a single-minded aim to revolt and destroy. You might not remember any of the songs, but you'll remember the experience as a whole and think nothing less of it because there wasn't anything to complain about.

So in the end it's all about whether or not you're looking for exactly one thing, that being some solid but not great Death-Trash, and if you are, then MASS MADNESS's second album "Rise Again", is what you're looking for. It knows what it wants to be, and it does it without hassle or complication - so I guess in that one way, it's pretty great.<