Band:	Insanity Alert
Album:	Insanity Alert
Style:	Crossover thrash metal
Release date:	October 18, 2014
A review by:	omne metallum

01. Glorious Thrash
02. The Claw (Of All That Is Evil)
03. Zongo Vs. Eyeball
04. Macaroni Maniac
05. F.U.N.
06. Crucified By Zombies
07. Weedgrinder
08. Blunt In / Blunt Out
09. Flamethrower
10. Shit For Brains
11. Twist-off Betrayal
12. Mankind Eraser (Must Destroy All)
13. Shell-Shocked
14. Arac Attack
15. Run To The Pit

To alcohol: the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems.

Austrian party thrashers Insanity Alert bring their brand of crossover thrash to the party and are ready and raring to go. Insanity Alert doesn't reinvent the wheel, rather it flips the wheel over on its side and uses it as a table to hold their beer as they decide partying is more enjoyable than evolving, and I'll be damned if they don't make a good case for it.

The band's brand of drug-fuelled, monster-murdering, short sharp shocks is enjoyable mosh-ready fun for all the family (I'm a critic, not a judge). Tracks like "Macaroni Maniac", "Blunt In/Blunt Out" and "The Claw (Of All That Is Evil)" will put a smile on your face, leaving you laughing at the content while you throw the horns in one hand and hold your beer in the other. The highlight of the album, though, has to be the Iron Maiden re-write in "Run To The Pit"; a fun and instantly recognizable track, it has the benefit of cutting through your drug- and alcohol-addled brain (by the album's end, anyway) and re-invigorating you with its memorable callback to messers Maiden while giving it a twist.

The band are able musicians and don't rely solely on their party image for their success, with them solid behind their instruments. While Dave Dave Dave doesn't play much in the way of unique riffage, he does offer up some fun fret work that will make you nearly spill your beer as you go to throw the horns. Heavy Kevy's raspy vocals are memorable but often fly by in a blur. the same can be said for the drums and bass.

Insanity Alert run into the same problem all party thrash bands do in such a limited genre; it is hard to sound unique and not like an identikit band. The band do fall into this pit at times and sound much like the slew of bands there are around. However, to their merit, rather than plummeting to the depths, they are able to hang onto the edge of the pit and poke their heads out from over it on occasion. Like Gama Bomb, Municipal Waste et al they are probably one of the better bands in the genre, if not the most original. At times, the band do fall into bland territory; given the confines of the genre, the only way to overcome this is by maintaining a high level of consistency throughout, which unfortunately the band are not able to do. Tracks like "Flamethrower" and "Mankind Eraser (Must Destroy All)" swing but never connect, and you are left for the next track to step up to the plate.

Like beer at a party, you drink what is better suited to your tastes, be it craft beer or cheap beer. At the end of the night, they'll both have you flat on your ass, it just depends on how much of the journey you remember and how much of a good time you can have between the haziness. Insanity Alert may be a cheap beer in the grand scheme of things, but I'll be damned if I didn't have fun before the killer hangover kicked in.