NUCLEAR ASSAULT — Pounder (review)

NUCLEAR ASSAULT — Pounder album cover EP · 2015 · Thrash Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
UMUR
"Pounder" is an EP release by US thrash metal act Nuclear Assault. The EP was released through Sidipus Records in June 2015. It´s the first release featuring new material from Nuclear Assault since "Third World Genocide" from 2005. "Third World Genocide (2005)" was itself a comeback release after a 12 year recording break, so it´s safe to say that Nuclear Assault haven´t had a very prolific output schedule in the last 25 years. The lineup is the same as the quartet lineup who recorded "Third World Genocide (2005)", so there´s some stability in that department.

Stylistially the material is unmistakably the sound of Nuclear Assault. Aggressive and crossover tinged thrash metal with John Connelly´s distinct sounding snarling vocals in front. Hard edged thrash metal riffs, hard pounding drums, aggressive vocals and riot gang backing vocals are the order of the day. There are few surprises on the 4 track, 13:20 minutes long EP, other than the out-of-tune clean vocals on "Died in Your Arms". Fortunately the clean vocals aren´t a dominant feature of the EP and the remaining parts of the material are quality thrash metal.

The band are as well playing as ever and there is bite and conviction behind the delivery. The sound production is not the most well sounding though, and especially the drums feature an odd clicky sound on the bass drums and an even more weird snare drum tone. To my ears they sound like something out of a demo recording, but the rest of the instruments and the vocals feature decent production choices. Upon conclusion "Pounder" is a nice little reminder that Nuclear Assault are still active and while they´ve certainly released better material in the past, a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.
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