Adrenicide is definitely one of, and arguably, the premier crossover band in Britain. Formed in Slough, England in January 2002, the core of the band comprised: Nuno Evaristo (guitars/backing vocals) and Neil Armstrong (vocals/bass) were on a mission to make pure 80's thrash/crossover. Adrenicide is the bastard son of this union. With absolutely no consideration for modern trends, Adrenicide first unleashed their own savage brand of kick-ass crossover in January 2003. With heads full of dumb-ass riffs, the band wasted no time in writing and recording the raw 'Impropaganda' demo. The fall of 2004 saw the release of 'All Went Black', a landmark release in the career of Adrenicide, their self released debut album.

WAR BEGS NO MERCY (2010) SLANEY RECORDS

I'd never even heard about England's Adrenicide, despite them already having released 5 albums, 2 compilation CD's, 1 EP and a demo, before Slaney Records issued the bands latest thrash/crossover onslaught, 'War Begs No Mercy'.

Adrenicide is yet another band riding on the second coming of thrash metal. Now, I fully agree with the statement found on the bands website: "THRASH ISN’T BACK: IT NEVER FUCKIN’ WENT AWAY!" Still, one can not deny the impact the latest thrash metal hype have had for this band. Now, one cannot claim that Adrenicide are riding a trend, nor are they emulating the same sound as most of the new acts seems to be going for. Rather Adrenicide are going their own way in bringing back the thrash/crossover frenzy, made popular in the underground by such bands as D.R.I., S.O.D. and Suicidal Tendencies, to name a few. I can't speak for the bands back catalogue, but on 'War Begs No Mercy' they don't sound like any of the mentioned bands. Adrenicide harness more aggression and raw power in their delivery. The vocals are of the talking-more-then-singing manner that is so apparent in the crossover scene. The music is fast and riff-based. As with all crossover/thrash hybrids, there is a lot of punk influences here as well. The last ingredient that is needed for this kind of music is humor, and Adrenicide adds that to the mix also. With titles like "No Toilets On A Battle Field" and "Planet Of The Dumb" there is no denying that these guys don't take themselves too seriously, which is a good thing in my book.

The download to 'War Begs No Mercy' is the production values. I am fully aware that this kind of music doesn't necessarily demand a clean and polished sound, in fact some of the best albums in the genre were perhaps recorded for less than this home made album. Still, 'War Begs No Mercy' lacks a little punch, in my opinion. I always found the crossover bands to lack more than a little in the variety department. And all the wile the music here is well executed, the aforementioned gripe holds true here also. Pretty much every song is galloping along in the same tempo, and the monotonous vocal style doesn't exactly help either. Granted this is the way this kind of music should be done, fans of the genre will most likely see things differently. And on songs like "Two Minute Warning", "Planet Of The Dumb" and "Cold God" I find it impossible to sit still, catchy and headbang-demanding as they are! MOSH IT UP, BABY!

Killer tracks: W.B.N.M., Two Minute Warning, Planet Of The Dub, Find A New Addiction, Cold God