UMUR
"Thrash Times at Ridgemont High" is the 10th full-length studio album by US metal act Deceased. The album was released through Hells Headbangers Records in October 2021. It´s the successor to "Rotten to the Core Part 2 (The Nightmare Continues)" from 2020 and it´s the second covers only album in a row from Deceased (and their third in all), their last studio album featuring original material being "Ghostly White" from 2018. While the first two cover albums by the band featured covers of hardcore/punk songs, "Thrash Times at Ridgemont High" is a different kind of beast, and as the title of the album suggests Deceased have opted to record 12 covers of different thrash metal artists.
It´s predominantly covers of tracks from the mid-80s and all tracks are pretty raw and savage sounding thrash metal. There are no covers of Exodus, Megadeth, or Metallica here, but instead covers of lesser known (at least to the general public) thrash metal artists like Sacrifice, Whiplash, Deathwish, and Razor. "Get Stoned" by Stone and the dissonant "Thrashing Rage" by Voivod stand out as a little different from the remaining tracks, but other than those two tracks, this is a consistent release in regards to musical style. Deceased generally do a great job covering these songs, and while some (most) of the covers are pretty true to the originals, Deceased manage to put at least a little of their own spin of the material.
"Thrash Times at Ridgemont High" features a raw sounding production, which suits the rawness of the material well, and upon conclusion Deceased have released a good quality thrash metal covers album. The title of the album is probably a reference to the fact that the band members listened to these exact songs (and probably many other similar ones), when they were in high school in the mid-80s and "Thrash Times at Ridgemont High" should be seen as a homage to that time. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.