STRUCK A NERVE

STRUCK A NERVE     "Struck A Nerve"

By Dr. Abner Mality

We now seem to be deep into the third wave of thrash metal. Of course the first wave was the latter half of the 80's, which will always be the apogee of the genre, and then we had the first thrash revival of the early 2000's. Some second wave bands like HAVOK and GHOUL are still at it, but most of them fizzled out. Much more exciting is the current explosion of new thrash bands, led by POWER TRIP, ENFORCED and HIGH COMMAND, who equal the best of the 80's.

Now part of this third wave is STRUCK A NERVE from England, who claim to be the angriest thrash band ever from the UK. Errr, they might want to check into DEATHWISH, who were as brutal as any speedsters I've ever heard. Right from the get go, it's obvious that STRUCK A NERVE is following the path of POWER TRIP and ENFORCED, as their relentless brand of thrash reeks of those groups. I absolutely cannot fault STRUCK A NERVE in terms of intensity, as they are 100% loaded for bear. But to me, there's a faint smell of "bandwagon jumper" in their music and they are not quite at the level of the bands named above.

"Nocturnal Terror" and "Struck A Nerve" are right out of the POWER TRIP school of thrash, with singer Aarann Tucker even sounding like the late Riley Gale with his "OWWW!" outbursts. The classics such as SLAYER and EXODUS are also touched on with, "Raining Death" and "Parade of Violence" following respectively in the footsteps of those bands. High point of the album for me is "Last Eyes See All", which is just irresistible with its catchy mayhem and also coming close to giving STRUCK A NERVE its own identity. Last and longest track "Leviathan Wings" has the only fleeting seconds of relief in its opening and closing but is mostly focused on chugging mid-paced crunch that reminds me a bit of HIGH COMMAND.

Nothing bad at all from STRUCK A NERVE and the album is recommended to all thrashers, but there is something about it that seems rather second hand.

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STRUCK A NERVE