It's always cool to see (and hear) the bands that have been around before you were born, and still kick ass in this current day. Canada's Exciter is one of those examples, having been around since the late 70s and, some line-up changes excluded, still going strong. The band's 9th full length (not counting best ofs and live albums) is called Thrash Speed Burn and it doesn't take a nuclear scientist to make a guess about the kind of music we are being served with!

The record is the first album with vocalist Kenny Winter. To be honest I'm not familiar with the band's older material, but to my ears the man is doing a good job screaming and shouting. The disc lives up to the oldschool thrash/speedmetal style and has a ditto 'rough' production. If you like you're metal to be 'protooled' and uber-tight this will probably not be your kind of thing. Think of a nice mix between old Motörhead and early Slayer and you'll get a good idea of what you're getting. You won't read a song by song breakdown in this review because of the fact that every track lives up to the title of 'a darn decent slab of beer-reeking metal'.

In the end, Thrash Speed Burn lives up to its name. It's fast, down and dirty, and will probably find a lot of listeners for fans of the early 80s style of thrash and speedmetal. It won't ripple the pond of thrashmetal that lies in Slayer's backyard, but if you like to swim in it you'll definitely enjoy this disc!