RAZOR — Violent Restitution (review)

RAZOR — Violent Restitution album cover Album · 1988 · Thrash Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
5/5 ·
Unitron
"All the pool hall, hustling dough. I'll beat the panzies and then I'll go."

Searing through the listener's skin just like the sharp blade that the band gets their namesake, Razor certainly performs all the violence they describe with their high-tension lightning speed thrash assault. Violent Restitution is the final Razor album to feature original vocalist Stace "Sheepdog" McLaren, due to inner conflicts within the band.

Ah, but what a swansong for one of the most underrated vocalists in thrash. As soon as you turn the album on, the first thing you hear is the piercing hell-scream of McLaren that opens up the mainly instrumental opener "The Marshall Arts". This long scream carries the song into the rapid-fire rampage that sets the tone and sound for the rest of the album. McLaren's high-pitched screeches rival the likes of Tom Araya on "Angel of Death" and his dirty fast-spitting vocals rival those of Cronos of Venom.

Of course, the vocals need to be spit out in order to catch up with the insane speeds of the instruments. Razor may very well be able to claim the spot as fastest thrash band around, as your head will be torn right from your neck if you try to headbang to the majority of these killer shredders. Occasionally the band slows it down to a fast catchy groove such as with the stomp of "Enforcer", but slow for Razor is still pretty damn fast. Apart from those occasional grooves, this is mostly pure grinding frantic thrash. The gang vocals during the choruses are perfect and act as a bit of a hook to compliment the blinding speeds of the riffs and jack-hammer drums. Just check out "Out of the Game" for an example of this.

Razor takes the stage as one of the best and most underrated of the Canadian thrash scene, which also housed such classic bands like Annihilator and Voivod. Compared to Violent Restitution, when it comes to speed and brutality, everything else is Out of the Game while the listener is left Tasting the Floor. Hope you found this review helpful, feel free to comment!
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Unitron wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Hey, you've got to admit it's at least better than the Shotgun Justice or Decibels album cover. ;-)
siLLy puPPy wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Noooooooooooooooooooo!
Unitron wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Thinking about it more, I really like the album cover. I think it fits the music really well.
Unitron wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Thanks. Yeah, the cover isn't the best, but I think the cheesiness of it and some more of those 80's thrash album covers have some sort of charm to them.
siLLy puPPy wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Great review and great album although i HATE the album cover!

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