Customer Reviews

Massive Aggressive

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This album kicks ass, the other reviewer Sam doesnt know what the fok he is talking about. Awesome riffs, some great 2-step beats, good throwbacks to early thrash. I don't know how any one couldn't like this album. That kid must have been breast fed speed or something to say this is too slow. This has about the same pace as the other MW albums, so don't be deterred, I almost did but followed my gut anyways and I'm happy with my buy.

This is an excellent album from a truly great new era thrash band. I said new era not nu. This is the real deal, pure thrash no posers like Bullet for My Valentine and As I lay Dying. Amazing riffs, killer vox and just the classic thrash sound we all love, excellent job. \m/

At first listen, the latest album by Municipal Waste is same old, same old. The band knows their '80s crossover revival is a huge hit with modern fans of hardcore punk mixed with thrash metal at intensely high speeds for insanely short song lengths. Crossover is a dying art, and the Waste deliver their hardest to keep it alive. Listening to them is like shot-gunning a two-liter of Monster Java through the nose.

Massive Aggressive is another notch in a beer and blood stained belt for the Virginia four-piece. The new album predictably delivers the goods, business-as-usual: all the songs are roughly two minutes in length, sounding like Thrash Zone-era D.R.I. meets early Cro-Mags with updated crisp production values. However, the band understood what made their last disc, The Art of Partying grow staler than three-week old lukewarm Keystone Ice -- a lack of variety and maybe even inspiration. Every song on that album was an ode to beer. So, the new album does away with the repetition, and brings the party through action and not description.

"Divine Blasphemer" features an Iron Maiden type twin guitar solo at the end, "Upside Down Church" kicks off with a Biohazard-inspired mosh riff and "Acid Sentence" slows down to a mid-tempo groove for a New York hardcore-styled middle break that initiates immediate headbanging. A huge focus on melody re-energizes the band's breakneck riffs, and glimpses of `actual' songwriting, from key changes to varied riffing styles drawing more from the punk side than the metal side of their musical equation ... all provide evidence that Municipal Waste choose to remain relevant, even if filling a well-established niche with little in the way of competition.

Singer Tony Foresta still sounds exactly like D.R.I.'s Kurt Brecht, and the rhythm section retains its signature tightness. Massive Aggressive is exactly what its title promises, and is a severe return to form for the cheesiest, most energetic and fun band in punk or metal these days. They have a song called "Wolves in Chernobyl," and that's the chorus for crying out loud. And "Horny for Blood"? "The Wrath of the Severed Head"?

I discovered Municipal Waste on a compilation CD, and purchased "Hazardous Mutation" off the one track I heard on the comp CD. Wow, I was blown away and subsequently purchased "Waste 'em All"..not in the same league with "HM" but a fun listen. When "The Art of Partying" was released I was stoked, but the CD as a whole was a bit off the mark IMO. That being said, "Beer Pressure, Chemically Altered, Born to Party, Thrashing is my Business and Business is Good, and I Just Wanna Rock" still get weekly plays, but there were some fillers on "TAoP" IMO. I'm mentioning all this to give some history so I can say that "Massive Aggressive" is MW's best release after "Hazardous Mutation". Some have knocked the production, but IMO it is nice and flat and let's you hear the band as the band really sounds, none of this over compressed, over produced crap...it sounds real. AND if you're complaining about it sounding "tinny", you're just hatin'. "Massive Aggressive" sounds good coming out of my Klipsch home speakers, my factory VW stereo, or my Emerson 1989 "boom box" that sits in the garage. The production IMO is one of the best aspects of this release, it's flat and clear. "Massive Aggressive" has some stellar tracks as well with some sick hooks. My favorite tracks: "Wolves of Chernobyl, Upside Down Church, and Media Skeptic". If you like Municipal Waste, you will not be disappointed, excellent release.

If you loved D.R.I., S.O.D. and other crossover bands, municipal waste is a breath of fresh air amongst all the cookie-cutter crap out there. Can't recommend them highly enough!

I think this cd is pretty awesome. So if the only song you heard from this album so far is wrong answer be sure to checkout the rest of the album. There are a lot better songs on here besides that. GO GET IT.

MW is an impressive act, bringing back thrash to the scene. I hear people compare them to DRI and other bands. No way, these maniacs are better. They bring a punk attitude but also some humor. One of the better cds to come out in the past 5 years.

Municipal Waste really slowed down at this record. The vocals aren't quite as good, and the recording quality sounds a little tinny. I am disappointed. They slowed down, and it gives me a headache to listen to. All the songs sound just about the same. Riffs sound the same in every song.
Weak.

There's a reason thrash is making a comeback. The mangled vocals and barrage of noise that defines metalcore and deathcore are getting tiresome and cliched in a hurry. Actual hooks, beats, not blast beat incessant pounding and even a tad of melody will never grow out of style and fans of heavy music are tiring of the largely formless noise so many "heavy" bands are offering.
Municipal Waste is at the forefront of the thrash/crossover revival, recalling the glory days of D.R.I. and latter day Black Flag in punkish attitude, with some Misfit imagery thrown in for good measure. But where these hardcore pioneers may have lacked musical muscle, MW have in spades, making their version of thrash/crossover a delightful mix of attitude and super tight musicianship. Lead breaks are minimal, but with short tunes they aren't needed in every tune. Bassist Land Phil (great name) is a fantastic player who makes up for any shortcomings in the lead department. The storm this outfit conjures up tells this reviewer that the last place I'd want to be is caught in the pit of one of MW's shows. They probably hold rock and roll's most broken ribs in a single gig record.
So why only three stars? Simple. The CD is only about 28 minutes long. One can find other bruising music like Exodus' latest "The Atrocity Exhibit: Exhibit B" for the same price and get over 70 minutes of music. Same with Iron Maiden and lots of other acts. If Municipal Waste continue to release such short CD's, then either they or the label need to reduce the price. No matter how good it is, it's a bit of a rip-off, and for that "Massive Aggressive" gets docked two stars.