ZERO TOLERANCE is a relatively new band from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They were formed in 2022 and thus far they have given us a demo in 2023, "Hellion Trance" and an EP in 2024, "Tender Is The Flesh". Now it is time for just over half an hour of their music with their debut album "A Test Of Strength". And before you ask, ZERO TOLERANCE plays Thrash Metal. But nor just any sort of, no, they have taken the eighties as inspiration and used that to define their own kind of Thrash Metal.

The influences that you will hear pass by are quite clear. You will hear early METAL CHURCH pass by regularly, closely followed by early METALLICA and early OVERKILL, and even some early DEATH ANGEL. What is good, is that ZERO TOLERANCE has taken those inspirations and used them in such a way that it has transported them nicely into the twenties of this, the twenty first century. It therefore gives "A Test Of Strength" a sound that is unique, or at least different from other bands.

I like the fact that ZERO TOLERANCE hasn't chosen to cement everything to the hilt, to make sure their Thrash Metal can breathe. It gives the music on "A Test Of Strength" the accessibility you want to achieve as a band, whilst nowhere and never having to compromise on the heaviness of the music that is being presented. Because I have to congratulate the band on being able to make every second on "A Test Of Strength" sounds intense and with a high level of intent and reality. In that sense you  might just forget to realise that ZERO TOLERANCE is still a very young band.

Not only the band is rather young, so are the band members of ZERO TOLERANCE, at least that is what I suspect when I see the picture of the band that came with the music. I have to say that the songs might not all be of the highest quality, but for a such nippers to write and play such adult and grown up Thrash Metal is a real treat. What that has done is make "A Test Of Strength" a solid, decent but also extremely entertaining album. I doubt that ZERO TOLERANCE will achieve world dominance with this album but I am sure that they are going to gain a lot of praise from a lot of Thrash and Heavy Metal fans.