Hello Metal-Temple, SHRAPNEL released in September their second full-length album to date. The album entitled "Raised On Decay" is a pretty well rounded example of Trash Metal. With influences from the likes of SLAYER and KREATOR, the quintet definitely nailed the genre down to it's core. The band from Norwich in England delivers a solid performance throughout this 49 minute album.

After a little atmospheric drum solo at the start of "Hollow Earth", the sound explodes into a Trash party. With a modern Trash sound of harsh vocals and guitar harmonics, the scene is set right away. We move into "Complete Resection" flawlessly with a twin rhythm guitar sound and an insane drum track. The movement from one song to another is a bit of an issue, though since most songs sounds similar.

It is great that the band found their sound, but a little difference goes a long way. In "The Boundaries Set", "Jester" and "Pariah" the same recipe is used with ample riffs and massive solos. The harsh vocals of Jae is a great asset to the band, he as a great and communicative energy, but should use a little more variation over the different tracks.

"Echoes of Emptiness" make use of the bass a lot more than usual, the whole atmosphere of the song is the bass itself. The crowd roars and hammer-on does add a whole other dimension to the song, this is definitely under used in recorded album. I wouldn't want to hear the hammer-on as a melodic part of a song, but when there is so much energy emanating from the band, I do like the power of a good crowd cheer like this. Definitely one of the highlights of the album.

The album ends much like it started, with a powerful set of songs that will hit the spot in "Raised On Decay", "Choir of Wolves" and "Antichrist". The melody of the latest one "Antichrist" is gripping, the guitar solo that starts around 1:10 is absolutely insane.

I loved the album as a whole, but I couldn't really pick any specific song that I would like to listen to again. This is probably my only issue, no song really stands out, it's either I would listen to the whole album again or nothing at all. All the songs are very similar, while this is good if the songs are all great, it could have been the other way around too. All in all, it is a solid but forgettable album. One that you won't regret buying as you're listening to it.