Pariah are an old semi-forgotten act with a complex history, mostly because they're actually one of the many incarnations of NWOBHM darlings Satan. They started out as the continuation of the thrashier sound Satan began exploring on Suspended Sentence and released two albums a year apart before dissolving, only to come back for just long enough to release this album with a new singer and yet another change in sound. Their first two have a respectable cult following these days, but admittedly, I've always been lukewarm at best towards them, finding their attempts to meld thrash attitude and aggression with a more traditional melodic sensibility somewhat lacking, a problem I believe they fixed with their third and final album Unity. All three Pariah albums received physical reissues earlier this year, which finally gave me the option to own and discuss what I consider to be the second-best album related to Satan.

Broadly speaking, this still works in the realm of what you'd call Power/Thrash, with the chugging speed of thrash mixed into guitar work and songwriting that's melodic in a way that's closer to the NWOBHM sound than anything else, but this differs a good bit in both songwriting and vocals. The compositions are more varied than before, from more direct melodic thrashers like "Saboteurs" and the kinetic "No Exit" to rocking numbers like "Reactionary" and "One of Us" and even tracks with shades of prog to them like the killer opening title track, "The Jonah," and the epic, moody album highlight "Walking Wounded." This more diverse approach to songwriting leads to some first-rate guitar work from Steve and Russ, who are just as comfortable blazing away with thrash riffs as they are the kind of killer twin guitar work they're known for, and every song has bushels of hooky, smoking riffs that rival the best of them.

What really holds this together, however, is the introduction of former Tysondog singer and one-time Satan backing vocalist Alan Hunter, here replacing previous vocalist Michael Jackson (not that one) and displaying more variety and range while still having enough grit to keep up with the harsher sections. He sometimes tries to cram in too many lyrics into his lines, and his delivery can get a bit shaky in spots, but he has plenty of swagger and charisma to make up for that and never does anything besides energize the already energetic songwriting.

This lineup would sadly be short lived, with Pariah calling it quits yet again shortly after this release and the band eventually reforming as Satan yet again with Brian Ross returning for vocal duties and, to their credit, they've consistently been one of the strongest NWOBHM revival acts since. That said, it's a shame that an album of this quality is often treated as a footnote for the band rather than the defiant and expertly crafted opus from the Pariah era that it is, but that's exactly the kind of fate an album released in the heart of the Dark Ages from the second incarnation of a third or fourth incarnation of a classic band is doomed to have. Still, we live in an age of reappraisal in regard to forgotten and dismissed albums, so maybe in time Unity will get the admiration and respect it's deserved from day one, and maybe this reissue will see to it. For now, I'll just say it's a lost underground gem that any fan of quality metal should get their hands on.