Shrapnel – Palace For The Insane

Shrapnel
Palace For The Insane
Candlelight Records

Since their formation in 2009, Shrapnel have been working overtime on the UK metal circuit delivering quality thrash metal that has shown that the UK is still more than capable at keeping up with their transatlantic and continental European cousins. This year has the Norwich band returning to the fold with their third album ‘Palace for the Insane’.

                Straight out of the traps, ‘Palace…’ takes no prisoners with a scorch the Earth policy of neck-breaking thrash that demonstrates exactly what this genre is all about as driving riffs threating to tear the flesh from the face whilst thunderous drums commit assault and battery on the senses. This is all honed into a warhead point by the raucous vocals of Aarran Tucker who could give the likes of Steve Souza, Chuck Billy and Schmier a run for their money. For Shrapnel, ‘Palace…’ is the sound of a band on fire at the top of their game delivering fantastic memorable songs such as ‘Cannibal’, ‘Infernal Choir’ and the indomitable ‘Might of Cygnus’; yet the most powerful track on this album is the superb ‘Turn Off the Lights’, this is a track of epic classic thrash proportions. Sure, this track isn’t ‘Master of Puppets’ or complex like the ‘…And Justice For All’, but it does stand shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Overkill, Kreator and Destruction. The reason that ‘Palace…’ is able to do this is down to guitarist Nathan Sadd who shreds so hard it threatens to open a portal up to 1987 itself. Yet, to compare this to past glories of the genre is unfair, Shrapnel deliver a contemporary thrash album that although has all that appeal of days gone by, keeps one foot firmly in the modern era, flipping off any two-bit hack who believes thrash metal is dead.

                With ‘Palace…’ Shrapnel have certainly taken their songwriting and crafting up a significant notch and therefore, it will not be surprising to see ‘Palace…’ mentioned alongside new releases by Warbringer and Havok when it is time to compile end of year lists.