Fast and furious thrash metal. Sound enticing? Then Audiopain's 2007, The Switch to Turn off Mankind, is custom-made for your ears. Although they hail from a locale best known in metal circles for spawning grizzly extreme death metal bands, Audiopain is a throwback of sorts to such '80s thrash trailblazers as Slayer and Overkill. And impressively, they're able to re-create the aural equivalent of a herd of mad, stampeding buffaloes with just three gentlemen. That said, there's nothing here that you haven't heard a zillion times before if you're a veteran headbanger, but with metal gone "subgenre crazy" by the early 21st century, some good, old-fashioned thrash metal is a welcome arrival. Just give a listen to the title track or "Holy Toxic," and be prepared to experience some serious metallic deja vu. Of the bone crushing, ear drum-splitting variety, of course. ~ Greg Prato|
Rovi