Crossover thrash is a genre that can be traced back to Join The Army era Suicidal Tendencies and the very obviously titled Crossover by party mongers Dirty Rotten Imbeciles. This is the main impetus for Richmond Virginia's Municipal Waste and what we get this time is a new label (Nuclear Blast) for the band's 5th album, and the same ol' Waste. I happened to catch the band at The Irish in Kearny NJ as one of their select few tour dates. After this they were about to start recording the new album; the day after that show. So here we are nearly 9 months later and the fruits of their labor now in front of us.
The outer space theme hits you right from the beginning of the album's intro on 'Waste In Space' which is played by Zombi's Steve Moore. The riffage then ensues and I note a slightly angrier sounding Tony Foresta on'Repossession'. The riffs laid out by Ryan Waste are as catchy as ever and the absolute machine of a drummer that is Dave Witte is certainly no slouch either, this may not be Discordance Axis but his fills more than do the job here. Landphil catches my attention with a nice bass sound on 'New Dead Masters' as the zombie theme continues and the middle section kills with more rapid riffs than you can shake a stick at. The level of seriousness that was displayed on the band's previous effort, Massive Aggressive is all but gone and seems to have gone back to The Art Of Partying and Hazardous Mutation. 'Unholy Abductor' may well be the fastest track up until this point and has an alien abduction in mind as you may well give up to the charms of this extraterrestrial and if it has anything to do with this song I sure would too.
The aptly titled 'Idiot Check' contains the lyric 'This song is not just about stuff you leave at shows" which seems to remind me that the band is making fun of their own fans in a kind of 'Halloween' by Dead Kennedys type of way; having seen a handful of Waste shows I can certainly vouch for the intelligence level of some of their fans, but hey what band doesn't have idiot fans, I know at least one Opeth fan that clearly stays in mommy's basement while uncle Mikael takes care of him. 'Covered In Sick/The Barfer' is another song that showcases the stupidity of drinking in excess for exactly what it is and does so with some of the best riffs yet. "What else should I expect with the company I kept…" I was in high school and college once and asked myself the same question at times. 'You're Cut Off' ends this drinking tirade from the perspective of a bartender and it really seems to hit home with the subject matter of Gang Green's Another Wasted Night.
'Authority Complex' hearkens back to the days of high school angst and how kids just seem to have a problem with anybody, doesn't matter who; telling them what to do. A cool idea for a song and an absolutely sweet guitar solo to bring the song to it's inevitable climax. 'Standards and Practices' includes guest vocals by Tim Barry, picking a fight with a corporation a la Scum; a message well received by the extreme metal crowd as stated with 'Corporate slime, they'll never care if we all live or die". 'Crushing Chest Wound' seems to take it's story from Alien and the soon to be released Prometheus as the common story of an alien ripping through your chest is an all too realistic reality for the story's character. Rapid fire riffs take you "six feet down" and into the grave with you, there's no hope anymore.
'The Monster With 21 Faces' which I have to assume is nothing like "the beast with 2 backs" deals once again with corporate oppression and a revolt against what they stand for in a short rapid fire bolt which has a similar outro as Judas Priest's 'Screaming For Vengeance', and there is always room for that kind of worship in my book. With a title like 'Jesus Freaks' how can you not already like this song? "Because I know this church has something to hide" is a most poignant lyric since the church seems to almost always avoid being upfront about what they actually do. 'The Fatal Feast' is given the synth treatment which gives way to Landphil and then the rest of the band and resembles exactly what the album cover looks like as minds are clearly gone and replaced with the need to feed on brains. Ryan Waste does an excellent job of tying all of this together with some excellently paced riffing and one of his finer moments that isn't moving at Mach 5.
'12 Step Program' is yet another attack on people having to be forced to admit they have a problem and not being to address it head on. The struggle within is much greater when you have to really take responsibility and if you don't want to quit, well that's your choice. Suicide seems to be the impetus behind 'Death Tax' as the song's title is very well done considering the subject matter. The toll it takes on your friends and family is being expressed here with lyrics like "How does it feel, Is it what you expect?…Well was it worth it?" A mid paced song with a very strong message and a great one at that. The album ends with a very punk feeling on 'Residential Disaster' seems to be the band's interpretation of invading neighborhoods, in very much a "take no prisoners" (take no shit?) type of way. No one is safe from the rage that is Municpal Waste as they will inevitably 'Unleash The Bastards' on the unsuspecting masses.
This is standard fare for Municipal Waste as they stick to a common formula much like the Motorheads, AC/DCs, and Slayers of this music scene, however they currently do their thing much better than the bands just mentioned. About as consistent a band as I have seen in the metal scene, especially when the subject matter goes from nuclear waste, to beer, to zombies, and just about anything you can think of similar to this. Anthrax would be very proud of these guys and I know you should check them out live on tour for this disc as they are one of the best live acts out there.
8.2/10
