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If you are like me and you've allowed extreme vocals to dictate your listening habits, it may be time to re-think that plan. If you don't, you're going to miss some seriously good Thrash Metal courtesy of Canada's Blinded by Faith. I guess you'd have to call the music on the band's third album, Chernobyl Survivor, "Melodic" Death Metal but that doesn't really do it justice. Sure, there's an evil atmosphere, the drums pound the shit out of you with relentless double-kicks and the guitar riffs are fast and aggressive. But what sets Blinded by Faith apart is their songwriting, which is top notch. Chernobyl Survivor is undoubtedly melodic due to the band writing actual melodies and not drenching the mix in keyboards to round out the sound. Keyboards are there, usually far back in the mix, so as not to compete with the riffs or spectacular leads. The vocals are almost exclusively Black rasps and Death growls and are integrated so well, you'll hardly realize that's what they are. The album flows and there are absolutely no weak spots, with songs like "Stranger in the Mirror" and "Prophet of Nothing" standing a bit above the others.

Chernobyl Survivor is the kind of album that spits in the face of anyone who would seek to pigeon-hole Blinded by Faith into one specific genre of Heavy Metal. You can call it whatever you want. I call it excellent. Any Metal fan worth his or her salt should check it out, Thrash fans especially.