There is a cheeky maverick quality in fusing new-school with old-school. It can be really stark with its defiant commentary on the rules and restrictions of the Metal world and also at the same time unashamedly tributary to the legends of the past that helped form the dreams of many modern Metal musicians today. To me, that's one of the qualities of new school Metal; including new school Thrash Metal, for the case of L.A. headbangers WARBRINGER with their fourth full-length album "IV: Empires Collapse", an 11-track package of vicious Thrash with its own added flavor of diversity in influences.

Formed in 2004, WARBRINGER is considered one of the new guard in the Thrash Metal scene. They're rarely doused with the credit they deserve, despite some critically lauded albums such as "World without War", instead having to deal with vilification based solely on the assumption that most new-school bands are composed of posers and sell-outs. Well, WARBRINGER is here to smear those assumptions all over the smug faces of their critics with this new killer of an album, from the shell-shockingly intricate opening track "Horizon" to some Punk-infused Thrashers such as "The Turning of the Gears" to Alternative, anthemic tunes like "One Dimension" to the strangely Black Metal-inclined "Hunter-Seeker". That's not to say the album is not full to the brim with the characteristics of some good old, old-school riffing, but the band adds buckets of color to an otherwise staple Thrash Metal record with a prominent, jazzy bass and murderous, banshee-shaming guitar screams, both of which collide cosmically with the foundations of Thrash Metal to produce some of the most creative, original Thrash tracks I've heard this year.

Expect to hear some catchy riffs, the kinds usually churned out by commercially-appealing bands such as METALLICA and MACHINE HEAD, but also expect to hear obscure references to influences cherry-picked from other genres such as the chilling, ascending lead guitar reminiscent of Black Metal to sharp, jarring, harsh music typical to the energy and aggression of Punk. The vocals too take on another facet of Thrash Metal, with John Kevill sounding like he just came out of a Scream 101 class with the likes of Tom Angelripper, Miland Petrozza, and Marcel Schirmer.

Tracks that start out slower such as "Dying Light" also carry a very Rock 'N Roll, Hard Rock vibe that is hard not to shake your foot or bop your head too. Breakdowns are also present throughout the album, making the tracks very easy to get attached to with the sensations of brutality it inflicts, pulling you to the core of its simplistic yet effective heaviness. Simply put, this album has pressure points for every fan of Rock and Metal music - it emerges at different parts of different songs, but if you pay attention, you'll be in for the finest "musical massage" that is guaranteed to reboot your nervous system.

"IV: Empires Collapse" is an album that is out to prove a lot, and boy, does it do the job. Maybe finally WARBRINGER will get the credit and respect they deserve for reviving the Thrash scene and doing more with it than most of their counterparts in the modern Metal scene do. This is one of the essential albums of the year and it may very well influence the way musicians take on the Thrash genre from now on: with more balls, creativity and finesse.