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San Antonio's X.I.L. has been kicking around the West Texas metal scene since 2013 and, in February 2022, released their debut album, Rip & Tear. Their amps are plugged into the current black/thrash/speed movement and the combination of speed, throaty growls, and flailing guitar work make them sound like direct descendents of Venom with a modern sound similar to Bewitcher, BAT, Knife, and others. The songwriting sticks close to the blueprint many of these bands follow, but the feeling of having heard music like this before won't stop you from banging your head and breaking out the air guitar for burners like "Speedemons," "Breakneck," and "Motorcharge." X.I.L. does push the envelope a bit with the nearly 10-minute-long "Moonlight Pass," going for an "At War with Satan," we can write a song longer than three and a half minutes attempt. It is a little scattershot, feeling like a couple of songs welded together with speed metal fury rather than a single, coherent composition, but I give them credit for trying something different. If you are a casual fan of black/thrash/speed metal, I don't know if Rip & Tear does things differently enough to make it stand out from the crowd, but if you are into the scene with any higher level of interest, it is hard to imagine X.I.L. disappointing.