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This band formed in Montreal in the early '90s and released their debut in 1995 and this, their second album, was released some 25 years later. Eh, no rush! ;) This has been driving me nuts for a while as the music and vocals remind me of stuff I've heard before, but I can't put my finger on it (listen to several hundred new albums a year and you'll see where that's coming from...)

There's a definite Slayer vibe here as well as a number of Bay Area thrash bands, especially '80s Metallica for the more melodic parts. The vocals... Well, this is one case where I'm not crazy about them but at the same time I can't help but think that they're just what the music herein needs. Loud, clean-ish but harsh, lots of power, maybe taking just a little bit too much space? It took some getting used to, but ultimately the fit with the music won me over.

Left for Dead has its melodic moments, but overall it's very heavy thrash; this thing just pounds you to the ground and chokes you with just enough air to keep you alive and make you beg for more. The riffs here and just insanely catchy, so much so that whatever next album I listened to, no matter how good, this stuff here would still pop in my head. Lots of cool air-guitar worthy solos as well and will just lift your feet off the ground. The album is heavy and aggressive, but also relatively accessible compared to what a lot of other thrash bands do, so Homicide can appeal to a relatively wide audience in the metal realm. This is no-frills thrash with a raw and pure approach to the genre that should be drawing more attention.