I Am The Weapon (Digipak)

"Thrash metal is one of the fastest, most technical and demanding of the metal subgenres to play. For a musician, it can be relentless, and for the listener, it can feel like a Category 7 hurricane has occurred between your ears. A Category 7 is not only the most devastating grade a storm can receive, it is also the name of a brand new Thrash metal supergroup. Members as well as ex members of legendary bands such as Anthrax, Exodus and Machine Head have united to form this mammoth band and have proven to be some of the best musicians in the game.The self-titled album opens with the first single released. ‘In Stitches’ is a no holds barred drumming assault, with the guitars playfully following the incredible double bass drum work by drummer Jason Bittner. Something which gets repeated throughout the 10 tracks.Track number two, ‘Land I Used To Love’ is a world-class showcase of both rhythm and melody. The chorus may be one of the biggest and catchiest of the year, and it would not be the same if it were not for guitar duo Mike Orlando and Phil Demmel. The vocals here fit perfectly and the choice of melodies in the chorus is a touch of gold from the band, being raspy as well as melodic.‘Apple of Discord’ is another fantastic showcase of the pummelling double bass drum work paired with the guitars. The chorus again is melodic but is slowed down before the verses, guitar solos and bridges speed things up. As a result, this track is much more memorable than most of the other tracks on this record.‘Exhausted,’ the second single follows, and with it comes a groovier, riff driven song with another memorable performance from the riff masters Orlando and Demmel, this song feels a lot more than a groove metal sounding song, it has an elevated sound which comes from experience. This is an extremely tight band with an all-star well established lineup of musicians, and it is songs like these which prove just that.‘Waver at the Breaking Point’ is where the album gets memorable again. Once again, the chorus features a tempo change whilst the verses sound like barrages of machine gun fire courtesy of Bittner’s drumming. The yell sounding vocal style vocalist John Bush is known for is perfect for this type of material. On this, it gives the track a more cohesive war like feeling matching the drums.The big surprise of the album is the end. An eight-minute musical epic, ‘Etter Stormen’, giving each of the musicians a chance to truly shine one last time. This is one of the only times the bass is clearly audible, which is unfortunate as the bass seems non-existent on the majority of the record. This song showcases how good each individual musician is as without the vocals, the instrumentation on this album is top-notch, proving why each of these musicians are still relevant in the metal scene today.To conclude, Category 7 is everything one would want in a thrash metal album. It has ferocity, melody, and exceptional music. It is unfortunate that the bass was mixed as weakly as it was on the album but the choruses, guitar solos and drums more than make up for it. Supergroups do not tend to stand the test of time very well, but with the chemistry that this band have, it does not seem like one album will be enough for them to fully showcase what they have in their idea’s notebooks. They may be named after the most devastating type of storm that can take place, but with music as good as this, Category 7 will continue to devastate our eardrums for plenty more years." - Silent Radio

"Artillery - one of the best thrash metal bands around returns with a brand new studio album! New material entitled "My Blood" is the follow up to the highly acclaimed album "When Death Comes" from 2009! The new album contains 11 blistering tracks that fill the void between past glory and future splendor. The material was recorded between November 2010 and January 2011 at Medley Studios in Denmark with Soren Andersen as the producer. The band will promote the new album with a video clip to the track "Warrior Blood." What can we expect from the musical side of the new album' Guitarist Michael Stutzer says: "The sound is a bit more heavy than it was on 'When Death Comes.' The music is a mixture of our previous albums 'When Death Comes' and 'By Inheritance', with a slight touch of 'Terror Squad' and 'Fear of Tomorrow' with some oriental pieces." The producer Soren Andersen added: "There is an almost rock and roll feeling in some of the songs.""

"Pantera's back, and all is as wrong with the world as it ever was. They're going to make sure you know it, too. Despite the four-year absence from the studio between Great Southern Trendkill and Reinventing the Steel, Pantera's unflagging aggression is confirmed by the full-throttle rhythms, throat-ripping vocals, and crunchy guitars. Call it their Metallica legacy, except that Pantera are more Metallica than Metallica these days. Heavy metal of this breed may be past its heyday, but Pantera's not going away quietly. In fact, evidence suggests that they're not going away at all--no matter how low you keep the volume knob, Reinventing the Steel is loud, loud, loud!" --Genevieve Williams

"The End of Chaos once again sees original members Michael Gilbert (guitar) and Eric A.K. Knutson (vocals) team up with long-time bass player Michael Spencer and second guitarist Steve Conley, who joined prior to their 2016 album. On drums, though, journeyman Ken Mary replaces Jason Bittner, who moved on to the equally-wizened thrash act Overkill. Make no mistake: A.K. and Gilbert are the driving forces in Flotsam and Jetsam, but the other three contribute mightily to this album, and all in good ways. We hear them right off the bat on “Prisoner of Time,” as the band tears into the opener with aggressive abandon, until 40 seconds in Spencer drops a killer bass riff and the song proper starts. A.K. snarls “Live your life without regret, don’t be a prisoner of time,” and that’s what it sounds like the band is doing all the way through this album.Comparing The End of Chaos to Flotsam and Jetsam reveals the following: the band has honed its songwriting chops, and there’s a palpable improvement in chemistry. Songs are more succinct (the longest song here is shorter than the four longest songs on the last record) and refined. Mary’s drumming is an upgrade, with inventive fills and a ton of furious speed—“Chaos Control,” “Snake Eyes,” and “Good or Bad” are lightning fast. Riffs abound as well, though. “Unwelcome Surprise” and “Recover” are standouts in that regard, but every song puts a smile on this olde, wrinkled face. Topping off the great music is A.K.’s performance on the mic. Honestly, the band has no iconic musicians in it, so A.K.’s voice is their hallmark, and he hasn’t sounded this good in ages. He never leaves his comfort zone, so isn’t pushing things in any distasteful way. He really shines on album closer “The End.” In this blazer, he hits his high register in the chorus—“I can see the end is taking over, and it always brings me down”—and it’s a stellar performance.Production is what we’ve all come to expect from modern thrash albums: a lock-tight rhythm section2 featuring a slightly-too-prominent kick drum, razor-sharp guitars cutting through the mix, and a dominant performance from A.K., well in front of the band. Oh, and the bass, which can be notoriously absent from some recordings? Loud and delicious here, with plenty of growl. The only real issue with The End of Chaos is the lack of dynamics in the arrangements. All twelve songs pummel the listener relentlessly. There are no interludes, no intros, no bridges where the band fades out, leaving only a clean guitar melody. A dozen songs of sheer balls-out thrash is what we’re served here. Some room to breathe would have been nice.That being said, Flotsam and Jetsam have delivered an album in the top end of their discography. The band is firing on all cylinders here, and the guys really sound on top of their game. Ken Mary is a beast behind the kit, and A.K.’s pipes sound better than ever. After a massive lull in their songwriting quality (in line with Angry Metal Guy’s Law of Diminishing Recordings™), the band have turned the clocks back and delivered two solid albums in a row that are sure to put smiles on the faces of thrash fans everywhere." - Angry Metal Guy

"1989's No More Color finds Swiss trio Coroner in transition mode between the technically skilled, but still relatively conventional Euro-thrash metal heard on their first two albums, and the truly distinctive thinking man's avant-thrash of the two discs yet to come. In other words, this is the point in which the group's desire to think begins overtaking their desire to thrash. But even as their need for speed dissipates, the band's creative instincts are given the chance to catch up with their virtuosic execution, a development made all the more evident by the less restrictive, more elastic production values extracted by Saxon producer Pete Hinton. As a result, Coroner's previously fast-improving songwriting skills are the only minor casualty of No More Color's otherwise sound evolutionary improvements, as excessively complex new offerings like "Die By My Hand," "No Need to be Human," and "D.O.A." become a little harder to differentiate from the pack. When it all comes together, however, such as on the excellent "Mistress of Deception" and "Tunnel of Pain," the album represents Coroner at their most accessible and mature to date. Also, as was becoming tradition by now, the album's closing track is where Coroner really takes a chance. On previous and subsequent outings, this "experiment" usually took the shape of unexpected cover versions, but here, cryptic closing track "Last Entertainment" is both a band original and a remarkable study in ambient thrash -- its manic thrashing offset by atmospheric synthesizer effects and a spooky echo-laden recitation topping it off. A fittingly forward-thinking ending, indeed, as the band would firmly establish their legacy with their next, groundbreaking effort, Mental Vortex." - Allmusic

New edition of this thrash classic is remastered, has a 20 page booklet and 4 bonus live tracks.