REVIEW! Municipal Waste - The Last Rager

October 3, 2019


It only seems like yesterday that I was writing my last Municipal Waste review for their then new album 'Slime and Punishment'. It turns out is was actually over two years ago, during the summer of 2017. How has time flown so fast?

In the time since the band last released new material they have been touring the globe, battering millions of people with their brand of cross over thrash. If you've never been to a Municipal Waste show it is a sight to behold. Flailing limbs and body's put to the wall all in the name of extreme heavy metal music.

As 2019 draws to a close, the Virginian natives are set to release a new E.P. via Nuclear Blast records. 'The Last Rager' takes their "party metal" persona to the next level and its set to hit us just in time for their winter tour of the UK.

The four track recording opens with 'Wave of death' there is no introduction, no build up. The track is going at 100mph from the opening note and if you're not expecting it, it hits you like a punch square on your jaw. At only 1 minute 53 seconds long it is a short sharp battering ram of an opening track. 


'Car Nivore (Street Meat)' opens by slowing the pace down a little, not a lot. The band are still pummeling you at a good 98mph but it's a tad slower than the opening number. The song's two minutes and thirty seconds of girth give the band the chance to expand their sound and build upon their thoughts. It's still the frenetic thrash with punk/hardcore undertones that we are accustomed to but with more structure and direction.

There is no let up in the annihilation of this recording and Municipal Waste are determined to forge forward at some speed. 'Rum For Your Life' opens with beefy riffs that soon build into a thrash assault. The song has the near perfect recreation of that 80's classic thrash sound and it wouldn't have been out of place back in the genre's heyday. A magnificent guitar solo at the mid point the highlight of the tune.

The title track of the E.P. is the fitting close to this opus. The bass chugs along from the off giving the sound some depth we've haven't heard previously in these four tracks. It add's meat to the bone that is Municipal Waste and the overall sound compliments the recording perfectly.

If you're after hard hitting, no frills thrash with a hardcore/punk vibe then look no further. 'The Last Rager' is the only hit you'll need in 2019.




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