Ramming Speed are a relatively new-jack “neo”-thrash outfit from Massachusetts, but unlike their peers in Havok, Fueled By Fire, and Bonded By Blood, they prove that they’re doing more than reliving the (G)olden days of Exodus and pre-Black Album Metallica; they’ve got the nuance and the unadulterated energy to pull off more than the occasional stint in a dive bar or DIY venue in the middle of nowhere, Kansas. Area code need not be included because the pigs would eagerly eat it up.
Doomed To Destroy/Destined To Die (Prosthetic Records). That’s a sign that Ramming Speed are ‘serious’ (apostrophes for a reason) about their mission to bring the new age of thrash metal to the masses. They’ve stepped up their game in every regard; the blastbeats are more frequent and tighter, the vocals are no longer the juvenile basement barks of the Full Speed Ahead days that begged for forgiveness rather than commanded attention, however promising. The production as a whole has gone from a band that would be content with a broom closet, to one that is a force to be reckoned with alongside Toxic Holocaust and Lich King. It’s great to see that Ramming Speed have “matured” to the point where they can finally be seen as a band that can stand up on their own ten legs and put out a release worthy of notice to the metal underground. Brainwreck was no slouch, but DTD//DTD is where they may have finally sealed in their sound a band that can bring Andrew W.K. party mentality and Slayer (for lack of a more legendary thrash outfit aside from the now weak Metallica) sickness to the audience they have chased after for so long. Get in the pit, because this is it, fellas.
8.5/10
Sean Piere-Antoine