On their seventh outing Electrified Brain, their first since 2017’s Slime and Punishment, Municipal Waste aim to keep their nonstop party firing on all cylinders. Opening with the title track, the listener is barely given a second before becoming completely enveloped in the crossover chaos provided by this 5-piece from Richmond.
Their sound, which is rooted heavily in D.R.I. and Corrosion of Conformity’s heyday, has continued to feel more and more their own over the course of the band’s 20 plus year existence.
Riffs are first and foremost on the album with tracks like “Demoralizer” and “Grave Dive.” You get the main riff and then get it cycled back for maximum efficiency. Making the most of a short affair, the Waste pull no punches and add a bit of flair every so often to break up the fracas such as on album closer “Paranormal Janitor” whose closing minute is peppered with ghoulish fun and gang singing that wouldn’t feel terribly out of place on a Ghoul album.
“High Speed Steel” is a wonderful speedy song with pure neck breaking intensity being the focus, a real pit anthem, especially in the song structure. You hear the circle pit amassing and moving at lightning speed. A nice ode to real-life events is the rager “Ten Cent Beer Night” named after the infamous Cleveland/Texas MLB game in 1974 where you can imagine, things got a little wild, clearly the exact kind of inspiration you would expect from a substance fueled, speed metal institution.
This far into their career, Municipal Waste have shown zero signs of slowing down, and why would they? Electrified Brain is just what the hesher asked for in 2022. Fans of the band and the genre new and old should flock to this, with walls of death a requirement. Thrashing is their business, and business is good.
(released July 1, 2022 on Nuclear Blast)
Heavy Music HQ Rating:
Watch Municipal Waste – “Electrified Brain” Video
