Looking back through the years, I realise once again that I have associated some of the best moments of my young life with my involvement in extreme music, and especially the genre of Thrash Metal. Things were far simpler back then - the only real concern for myself and the group of friends I was hanging out with at the time was to have a good time and that same attitude was reflected in the music that we were listening. Do I miss those times? Hell yeah, but it looks like I am not the only one, judging by the numerous young bands with an 80's Thrash musical orientation that have appeared on the music scene the last few years. One such band is the Virginia-based quartet Municipal Waste.

In your attempt to recreate the sound and music style that was prevalent twenty years ago you have quite a few chances of sounding dated and repetitive, and even though the members of Municipal Waste are working on musical formulas that have already survived the test of time, they somehow manage to sound quite interesting and convincing. Talking about their style, though, one should not expect to get exposed to the same Slayer or Metallica-sounding riffs that most new bands tend to incorporate in their music. Quite on the contrary, the music that's featured in Municipal Waste's second studio release "The Art of Partying" is much more "underground" in its orientation, compiling an explosive cocktail of Nuclear Assault-sounding vocals and DRI-influenced riffs, and are championed by a similarly-orientated artwork that reminded me of those used by bands like Evil Dead and Laaz Rockit.

As most typical products of the Crossover scene (Metal meets Punk), "The Art of Partying" is an album that is focused on high-speed guitar riffs, simplistic but quite energetic vocals and anthemic refrains that are created with the crowd's participation in mind. As such, this fifteen-track release has no hidden agendas and will either win or loose your interest from the very few notes of the opening same-titled composition. The fact that most songs are created with similar dynamics in mind means that you can easily loose track of which is the song that you are listening to in each given time, even though the rhythmical opening riff of "The Inebriator" the slightly childish introduction of "Beer Pressure" and the massive guitar riff and equally impressive backing band vocals in "Sadistic Magician" will probably help them stand out from the remaining compositions of the album.

Every time I have to rate an album like "The Art of Partying", I normally end up with a horrible headache - why? Well, even though I really enjoyed listening to the fifteen compositions that are on offer here, to the point that I will almost certainly attend the band's next London show, I cannot fail to notice that nothing really new is on offer here, and that is a situation that creates a lot of confusion in my head. Will I play this CD on my stereo on a regular basis? I don't believe so. Will I enjoy listening to it on any given opportunity? Definitely yes! One thing should be very clear to you, though - if your ideal album consists of anthemic refrains and stage-diving/mosh-driven riffs, then "The Art of Partying" is an album worth investing in.

***½

Review by John Stefanis