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Three albums in and UK thrashers Shrapnel are showing no signs of either changing or compromising their attack. If you were to think of the glory days of 80s thrash metal, this is the sound that would play in your head. Nothing wrong with that, obviously, although getting through just under an hour of it in the year 2020, when you know you’ve got Pleasure To Kill, Rust In Peace and Seasons In The Abyss sat on the shelf, might seem like a bit of an exhausting task. So, it’s to Shrapnel’s credit that they never lose your attention, the maniac riff that opens The Mace is as good as thrash can sound and Infernal Choir is delightfully evil sounding. If all you desire in life is more Slayer, more Exodus, more Kreator, more thrash, basically, this will hit every spot. Hard.
Shrapnel’s Palace For The Insane is out now
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Stephen joined the Louder team as a co-host of the Metal Hammer Podcast in late 2021, eventually becoming a regular contributor to the magazine. He has since written hundreds of articles for Metal Hammer, Classic Rock and Louder, specialising in punk, hardcore and 90s metal. He also presents the Trve. Cvlt. Pop! podcast with Gaz Jones and makes regular appearances on the Bangers And Most podcast.