Formed in 2016, THRASH LA REINE are back with a sophomore effort. They released ''Le métal est notre langue'' (Metal is our language) in December of 2017 and released a single for the last song of their new album in April 2019 called ''Du sang sur les plaines'' (which means Blood on the Plains for you English speaking people out there!) Renaud Baril formed this band after he left another local band by the name of TRAINWRECK ARCHITECT. Now he is the mainman and the master behind the mic and the axe for this new and upcoming band.

They have opened for artists and bands like BLAZE BAYLEY, WEST OF HELL, TIM RIPPER OWENS amongst countless others. They haven't been at it for very long but they are making the rounds throughout the Quebec scene. They are opening for a lot of bands for various walks of life. They have opened for some really established local bands and are definitely making a name for themselves. They have a refreshing sound and a very mature approach to their music and give one hell of a show. I had the chance to see them live a few weeks back and they have such energy and poise, it was a treat to see. They are not intimidated at all by the stage and they delivered some great tracks from their new album and even if they were the first band on stage that night, they established the frenetic pace nonetheless. They have this unbridled Punk energy mixed in with some Thrash and Power Metal elements. They fuse together those styles to make something of their own. They really established their proper sound, without compromising anything in the process.

I have a love-hate relationship with the French Language, yes I am a French-Canadian living in the good old Province of Quebec but never felt the French language was lyrically proficient. French is a very specific language with a lot of rules and regulations that dictate it and as much as it's a beautiful language, I never really felt compelled by French speaking artists. I always felt the language fell flat and was a bit redundant and cheesy. Well, THRASH LA REINE may have picked my interest because the lyrics are really compelling. The structure is on point and they are thought provoking. They don't sound overly repetitive. What I want to say it's really well written, nothing is left to the imagination of the listener and the lyrics are intelligent as well as truthful. The last song of the album is a retelling of the Plains of Abraham battle, the biggest battle in the history of the Province that changed the landmarks and lives of thousands and thousands of people which took place in September 1759 in Quebec City. The song is very reminiscent the long and drawnout songs of IRON MAIDEN (like ''To Tame a Land'', ''The Clansman'' or ''Rime of the Ancient Mariner''). The beginning sounds like to epic IRON MAIDEN songs and it's the best song of the album, well, In my honest opinion. I am a sucker for long songs and have always been intrigued by the magnitude of these powerful and epic songs. The song has some great lyrics and gives some added depth to one of the more important events to ever happen here in the province of Quebec.

The Epic Thrash trio have other awesome songs on this EP, I would like to highlight a few of them which is not something I usually do. ''Pourchasser le dragon'' (Chasing the Dragon) is all about video games, this cult following a lot of people have with video games. It's all about that addiction, almost as important as hard drugs. People have ruined their lives with addiction and this song talks about the toll it has on that person that is obsessed in Chasing and Killing that particular dragon. I love the lyrics, being a kid who grew up in the Nintendo Age, this really spoke to me.

''Thrash la Reine'' (Thrash the Queen) is about this Monarchy reigning throughout Canada, Great Britain and the Commonwealth. It talks about the utter nonsense of this administration and why are we ruled by something absolute. They usually finish their live shows with this balls to the walls Thrash Metal song, it's all about aggression and being pissed at something that doesn't make sense nowadays. ''La peur de lendemain'' (Fear of Tomorrow) is about the 9 to 5 drive we have happen to live throughout our weeks. This talks about the trials and tribulations of working continuously and the wear and tear on our minds, our lives in general. There is no easy way to put it but the 9 to 5 grind is not easy and has some rather harsh consequences on our body and minds and this song reflects it with that very light.

The album was mixed by Pierre Rémillard, of the best out there with Christian Donaldson of CRYPTOPSY and they went all out (it shows how they taking their music quite seriously) and hired Jacob Hansen from Denmark to master the album. The production is on point and adds to the greatness of this EP bar none. As for the album artwork, it was done by Chen-Jeh Chen, an artist that has collaborated with TRAINWRECK ARCHITECT in the past. It's an awesome cover and reminiscent of comics like Preacher or the work of Marco Rudy, a comic book artist that has done some awesome X-Men work a few years back. Loved the album cover, would be cool on a T-Shirt, just saying!

They have a boatload of potential, a nice energy and they are really nice guys. It's a nice combination, don't you think? High energy, high volume, they own the stage like no other newer band I have seen on the local scene. I actually ordered the physical copy of the album because I really love what they do and I want them to pursue their dreams and continue delivering some awesome music.