Shrapnel - The Virus Conspires

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - thrash metal can be a bore sometimes. For every great band you come across, there's a boatload of crap ones who have no subtle understanding of how to pull off the whole retro vibe without coming across as a malignent self-parody which naturally leads to a large degree of stagnation within trash metal's beer and blood soaked confines. But once again, just because a band sounds like an emulation of greats from our heyday doesn't necessarily mean that they're bad, and Shrapnel are a glorious golden example of doing ye olde thrash metal the right way.

Under no circumstances is this record a modern example of originality within the genre (more on this later), but it's most certainly a very carefully thought out album. Shrapnel proudly wear their influences on their sleeve on The Virus Conspires, with albums such as Enemy of God, Tempo of the Damned and Killing Peace echoing through your head for the duration, and they've managed to capture the magic that made those records so great without falling victim to the old it-sounds-like-x-or-y-band-so-it-sucks trap. There's meticulous attention to structure, execution, pacing and out-of-the-norm approaches to be found here if you're observent enough to look out for such things and it really is a testament to just how incredible some young bands are capable of being these days; well-executed pattern and tempo changes occur at the most unexpected of moments, and I think there was even some synth (or at least an abundance of guitar effects) during one track which came as a complete surprise to me. Despite the fact that such nuances are few and far between and bear little impact on the product as a whole, it's still refreshing to hear a new band being subtle about their attempts to differentiate themselves from other bands whilst still managing to maintain a very old school and common sound. This said, The Virus Conspires is still a thrash metal album through and through - tracks like Titan, Braindead and the colossal Red Terror are deafening slabs of fine thrash that rivals any band or album you can name from the past decade.

I feel compelled to draw comparisons to fellow British thrashers Evile here, believe it or not. This being Shrapnel's debut full length on a label after two monstrous independently released EPs brings up immediate similarities as it is, but I think that The Virus Conspires has a lot in commons with Enter the Grave; mostly due to the fact that both albums, while fantastic, are by no means unique or representative of what the band is capable of. Evile managed to find their personal indentifiable sound on their second release, and I've got a strong feeling that Shrapnel will follow a similar route despite being a bit closer to having their own identity as a unit here than Evile were at this stage... if that makes sense? It's a very bizarre observation to make, but I've got a strong feeling that Shrapnel's next album is really going to be their massive make-or-break record where they'll finally cast off the chains of thrash metal banality and create something that's not only unique to them, but a gleaming example of what all bands should shoot for.

And as a footnote for you production madmen out there, you'll be pleased to know that The Virus Conspires sounds absolutely terrific. The album was recorded with the king of kings Russ Russell, whose résumé includes the likes of Napalm Death, Dimmu Borgir, The Berzerker, New Model Army, The Exploited and... Evile, oddly enough. I've always loved Russ' work in the past, but he's done surprisingly little with thrash metal acts - he's worked with Evile for their past three records and he co-mixed the Big Four DVD with Andy Sneap, but he's mostly known for producing death metal records. A crying shame, because he always does a great job and this one is no exception. Every band on earth should work with Russ if you want your album to sound good; hell, I think he could even make the shittiest of bands sound like pros. I needn't go into detail about the mix where Russ is concerned, all you need to know is that if it has his name on it then it's going to sound fantastic.

So overall, Shrapnel have made a beautiful piece of work that's a sign of bigger and better things to come. I loved the No Saviours and The Devastation to Come EPs and I've probably shared the stage with Shrapnel more often than any other band (maybe except for Kemakil), and after waiting a whole year to get my hands on this album, I'm glad to say that I'm not disappointed. I've had this on repeat for the past few days and I simply can't recommend this highly enough... this is British thrash metal at it's finest. This said, it's safe to say that if my hunch is right then album number two is going to be their major release, but until then... The Virus Conspires is as good as it will get.


1. Kingdome Come
2. Titan
3. Braindead
4. 22
5. The Virus Conspires
6. The Wake
7. Red Terror
8. The Watchers
9. Pseudocommando
10. Poison The Mind
11. All That We Know