Warbringer

It seems to be the case for devoted metal heads to loathe whatever is new and popular. Recently, the spurning of every band that use "core” as a suffix has been quite prevalent. However, it appears as if there is a new trend starting to cut its way through to the metal mainstream, one that even the most hardcore metal head has no right to shun. Old school thrash — the sweaty, leather-clad bastion of early ’80s California — appears to be reawakening and one of the bands behind this renaissance are Warbringer, who must have listened to Kill ‘Em All and Show No Mercy while in the womb. The band’s senior member is just 22, while the youngest is merely 17, born after the ’80s had ended and metal was relegated to a far more underground status. You’ve got to hand it to these kids — their debut album, War Without End, is a true homage to the thrash gods long passed, and sounds quite similar to the debut from Evile, the UK’s young thrash revivalists. While the riffs will get even the most aged, bullet-belted headbangers moving, Warbringer will hopefully mature a little more as songwriters and release their own Reign in Blood or Master of Puppets. Until then, it’s amazing to hear the new trend in metal harkening back to a time when playing faster and partying harder than everyone else were way more important than whiny clean vocals and mid-song breakdowns.