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The first Hemoragy album I reviewed, 2010's Headbang Till Death, was awful, so I wasn't all that hopeful when 2013's The Thirst World War showed up in my mail. And with a title like that, my hopes were further dashed (hasn't Tankard covered most of the drinking-themed titles already?) Suspect titles and goofy artwork notwithstanding, I dove into The Thirst World War and, to my surprise, it is a huge improvement over Headbang Till Death.

Gone are the groove riffs, replaced by honest-to-goodness Thrash played over a foundation of Traditional Heavy Metal. Singer Johannes Musslin channels Mille Petrozza and leans into the mic far harder than he did on the last album. There's actually some depth to his gravelly vocal lines this time around. Songs like "The Crazy Race," "Machination" and "1518" are entertaining, if not particularly spectacular. The riffs and solos work well together. The bass lines of Lynda "Basstarde" Siewicz are further back in the mix on The Thirst World War, something they need to rectify, as she was the lone highlight on the last album. The Thirst World War starts to veer off the tracks towards the end with heavy-handed attempts at humor on songs like "Turning Into a Lush" (didn't I say leave the drinking-themed songs to Tankard?) and "Evil Sausage," that also happen to have crummy riffs. I give them creativity points for "The Thirst World War," a song in which they weave some "ethnic" breakdowns into the flow, in an attempt to evoke the North American, African and European contingents of their war of thirst. It doesn't work particularly well, but it is certainly different.

The Thirst World War bears more than a passing resemblance to Tankard, in more ways than one, on top of its Traditional Metal side. What cannot be ignored is how much better the songwriting is compared with Hemoragy's prior output. They aren't the best band in the world, but it's always nice to see a band step up their game.