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!
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
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!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

The Goblin Sessions Heavy Metal
THEM
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tormenta De Arena Metalcore
VORAGO
Buy this album from MMA partners
Infinite Metalcore
FUTURE GHOST
Buy this album from MMA partners
Heretic Melodic Death Metal
SUNCINDER
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Skull Burned Wearing Hell Like A Life Vest As The Night Wept Mathcore
FRONTIERER
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Future Ghost - Wolves (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Future Ghost - Nemesis Game (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Harrowed TwentyTenVideo
HARROWED
Bosh66· 3 days ago
Sunmancer - Realms of Dilemma (Official Visualizer)
SUNMANCER
Bosh66· 8 days ago
Sunmancer - Lower Cavalier (Official Visualizer)
SUNMANCER
Bosh66· 8 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed