SCUMRIPPER-well with a name like that, who would expect anything but abject chaos? If you did, you were wrong. From the opening track 'Colonel Gator', it is clear what to expect-frenzied pulverizing drums, frenetic riffs, and hoarse barking vocals. There is a small break around a minute in (which is about 2/3 of the way through the song) that sounds like it was lifted from Seasons in the Abyss. The next song, 'Slay.Scum.Day' is equally frantic and SLAYER-esque. There isn't much to say about each individual track before it's over, as they are so short. The aim is obviously to strike while the iron is hot and then disappear without a trace.

Although a ferocious extreme thrash outfit, I appreciate how SCUMRIPPER make time for levity in their own way. Even if you can't understand any of the lyrics, you can see it in songs with titles like 'Nuns'n'Doses', an obvious Guns'n'Roses parody. It's not a bad song either, although I do like my metal at least a little longer so the songs can breathe (so far, none of these tracks have been over two minutes, and I doubt any will go much longer than that). 'Rock the Bone' is only 54 seconds.

That said, a lot is packed into such short lengths-'Three Morbid Magi' rockets from riff to riff and sends each crashing down like a sledgehammer. It is brutal and slamming, but also pretty clear and (instrumentally, at least) comprehensible. 'Mask Merchant' breaks the two-minute mark, but only does so because of its slower pace. The drums are more strident than spastic in places, and the song has a tinge of groove to it.

The title track, 'All Veins Blazing', starts with a spoken intro over sizzling guitars before settling into the SCUMRIPPER snarl. That actually is a good way to describe the tone on this album; not biting like some old-school thrash, but not blunt-trauma death metal either. The vocals contribute heavily to the snarling atmosphere. The band's sense of humor returns on the song 'Eight Rapes A Week', which is a Beatles joke. Also, it seems pertinent somehow that the next song is called 'Put a Boot to His Cock'. Seems like there are some mixed messages floating around here. Regardless, the riffs on both songs are satisfying; even if 'Put a Boot to His Cock' can't really be called a song at only 36 seconds. Maybe it's just a quick response to that rather prolific rapist from earlier?

The last song on this 11-track album (which normally means length, but not this time); 'Death Wish' is more cutting than the rest. It is also the only track with anything close to a solo, even if it doesn't last very long and sounds too much like Kerry King. The riff that comes after it is cool and evil-sounding, although again, all of the eerie riffage SCUMRIPPER offers up very clearly comes form SLAYER. Not necessarily a bad thing; I think the problem I started to have with SLAYER was that after a while it was just too much of the same. These guys solve that by slashing the lengths of their songs drastically.