WRECK-DEFY - Remnants Of Pain LP (Black Vinyl)

When it comes to the newest wave of thrash metal, the bands most people immediately think of range from acts like Lich King, to the more classic-sounding crossover acts like Power Trip, and finally to the more extreme bands, such as Vektor, who push the limits of the metal genre as a whole. And while those bands have been mainstays of the scene for quite some time, that doesn't mean there isn't room for newcomers.

Having only been formed in 2016, Thunder Bay quartet Wreck-Defy are certainly fresh. That's not to say they don't know what they're doing, though; Shawn Drover from Act of Defiance and Megadeth lends his talents by performing all the drums on the album, and his brother Glen (also from Megadeth, as well as King Diamond and Queensrÿche) contributes lead guitar to two songs. The rest of the band are pretty good, too: Guitarist Matt Hanchuck brings a measured energy that is rare among the hyperspeed thrash acts of today, and vocalist Aaron Randall (oh yeah, he was in Annihilator for a while) has a great, operatic speed metal voice which reminds me of David Wayne in a lower register.