Band:	Corruptor
Album:	Towering Inferno
Style:	Thrash metal
Release date:	January 2010

01. Inferno
02. Fires Of Dissolution
03. Full Force
04. Nightmare To Come
05. Burned In Waco
06. Malevolent Creation
07. Iron Empire
08. Darkest Of Days
09. Unleashed
10. Dead To Me

Remember Gex the gecko? No? Didn't think so.

Anyway - Towering Inferno by Corruptor. One could call this a tribute album of sorts for 80s thrash metal and the Bay Area scene in particular. And that's because that is exactly what it is. Plain and simple.

You've really got it all here - there's the barked immediacy of Metallica, the headbanging rifforama of Exodus, the proto-death assault of Testament, some Dimebaggy melodic groove and occasionally even the high pitch squeal of an unlucky construction worker who's had something very dear to him ripped off. The only thing missing here is the hardcore urgency of Slayer but this is because Corruptor is much more into the classic metal sounding stuff.

Reviving the rotting corpse of classic thrash is all the rage right now but few bands do it as well as Corruptor do. These guys have some talent! It's just all in the songwriting and the plethora of riffs that any real thrash fan will find appealing. Vocals are very impressive throughout with singer Tommy J. being able to flawlessly contribute barks, growls and even high pitched wails. The production is appropriate, although a tad too clean perhaps. Not a big deal though since the band delivers the goods with the riffs and melodies. And solos. Lots and lots of them too!

So, dear reader, you might be asking, why am I so unimpressed? Well, it's because Corruptor is Gex.

Gex - the intended Mario or Sonic of the 3DO gaming console. All the critics agreed that Gex was a good platformer and that the team behind it was talented. But who remembers Gex now? Yeah - only a bunch of game nerds. Mario is still synonymous with the classic platformer and Sonic is still synonymous with a successful attempt at redefining the genre. Just as Metallica will always define thrash and Pantera stand as an example of a successful variation of the style. And Corruptor? Like Gex - cool but soon forgotten.