Hirax, hailing from Cyprus, California; one of those bands that have been around since James Hetfield could tell the difference between girls and boys. Pumping out thrash metal albums since 1984, Hirax tends to stick to their formula.

Assassins of War is the latest offering of these oldtimers; and the presented album is more of an EP kinda thing with 5 thrash metal tracks that only bands like Hirax can deliver.

Mediocre production: check
Songs that make your head go up and down: check
Enigmatic frontman but you can't hear that on the record: check
Riffs that are good, but not amazing: check

Ok, that might sound a bit negative but these guys do know how to write a thrash-tune. Opener "Lucifer's Inferno" is easily one of the better tracks that this band has written; it made me want to travel back in time to a sweaty club with beer and metal. Cool riffs, tempo changes and excellent "lets sing along: LUCIFFFEERRRR" vocals. Too bad the rest of the disc doesn't hold up, "Summon The Death Dealers" has its fair share of stealing in it with the intro sounding an awfully lot like Slayer's "South of Heaven" before it transforms into a bland affair.

This EP/mini album is a bit of a mixed bag for me. I love thrash metal, but somehow these few songs didn't move me at all. They're well played and probably pretty cool when you're banging your head in front of the stage, but they don't add much to the "big picture". Maybe it's the production, things tend to sound like a "well recorded" demo. With a nice bit of cutting here and there some of these tracks would kick ass!

And remember...there are 2 asses in Assassins!