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Nuclear is a Chilean band that plays old-school Thrash. I liked their 2010 album Jehovirus for its simple, stripped-down and blazing fast style. 2012's Apatrida is a five-song EP that picks up where Jehovirus left off. Mid-80s Slayer remains the main influence but I can also hear early Sepultura in the riffing and some Crossover shouts in the vocals.

From the opener, "My Own Anarchy," to the cover of The Exploited's "Chaos is My Life," to the closer, "Apatrida," its bile spewed out in the band's native Spanish, Nuclear charge through the EP's 16 minutes and 14 seconds. There's enough kinetic energy in the band's playing to light up a small city. The riffs pile up against your eardrums like a traffic jam, heavy and relentless, until the solos come blaring in, emergency vehicle style, and clear out the blockage. Then it starts all over again with singer Matias Leovicio not so much directing the traffic as orchestrating the chaos.

Don't pick up Apatrida if you are looking for innovation because you aren't going to find it. Pick it up because Nuclear plays Thrash the way we wish Slayer and Sepultura still did.