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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

Since blagging his way onto the Hammer team a decade ago, Stephen has written countless features and reviews for the magazine, usually specialising in punk, hardcore and 90s metal, and still holds out the faint hope of one day getting his beloved U2 into the pages of the mag. He also regularly spouts his opinions on the Metal Hammer Podcast.