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I seem to recall San Francisco's Hexx from back in the late 80s, but they didn't leave much of an impression, getting lost is the sea of thrash bands cluttering the landscape. They switched to death metal for a bit then hung it up until 2017 when they went back to their thrash roots on their fourth album, Wrath of the Reaper. I honestly thought the singer was a woman but it's actually a guy who just sounds a bit like Jill Janus from Huntress or Federica De Boni from White Skull. No disrespect meant, his vocals truly suit the evil, speedy tracks that open the album like "Macabre Procession of Specters" and "Screaming Sacrifice." Wrath of the Reaper starts out like gangbusters with vicious and clever riffing on those early tracks but soon runs out of gas and, by "Swimming the Witch," things are slowing down and getting repetitious. "Wrath of the Reaper" finishes the album on a high note but the tracks in between are rather faceless.

I give Hexx style points because they have a somewhat unique sound while retaining that West Coast vibe, even if the songwriting is uneven. Fans of 80s thrash, this one's for you.