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Evolution and progress are all well and good, but there’s a lot to be said for sticking rigidly to a simple formula and being better at it than everyone else. Municipal Waste were ahead of the thrash revival game from the start and while many of their peers from a decade ago have tripped over their bullet belts or backflipped into oblivion, Richmond, Virginia’s kings of fast and foolish party thrash are still clattering along at full pelt, impervious to fashion and resolutely fast as fuck. Slime And Punishment contains no surprises whatsoever, and that’s why it’s such a joy. There has always been something irresistible about snotty, punk-fuelled speed metal, and with the likes of Enjoy The Night, Shrednecks and Bourbon Discipline, Municipal Waste have simply coined a new batch of pit-ripping classics, custom-designed to cause maximum chaos via breakneck riffing and lyrics that prove the old adage that you have to be pretty smart to sound this dumb. Still a band best experienced in the flesh, with all the drunken idiocy that entails, this is the Waste’s strongest album since The Art Of Partying and it’s every bit as demented, uplifting and timeless as fans will be expecting.

Dom Lawson has been writing for Metal Hammer and Prog for over 14 years and is extremely fond of heavy metal, progressive rock, coffee and snooker. He also contributes to The Guardian, Classic Rock, Bravewords and Blabbermouth and has previously written for Kerrang! magazine in the mid-2000s.