Review by JD on May 31, 2010.

Japan is a very eclectic and unapologetic unusual sort of community in the world cultural place, but it is one that really has come into its own. Heavy Metal is a seriously huge deal in the land of the rising sun, but their take on what actually is Heavy Metal is to them is more than just a little bit different than the rest of the world seems to have.... that is why this album stood out like a full side of beef at a worldwide vegan convention.

You have for your perusal, Outrage... a Japan based band that has been around the metal scene for awhile in their country but had up and disappeared for a few years... and now we can thank God that the have emerged and North America now can hear them. They arrive and announce themselves with pride, daring the metal communities on our shores to try and ignore them.

Combine the musicality of Metallica with the brutal talent like a early career Testament that have some clear Annihilator traits as well... you get the sound of a band that truly thrashes hard as any out there.. Yet there was this sort of ‘surprise’ waiting on the album. Oddly, there are Hair Metal power ballads on the album that are straight out of the late 80's radio airplay.... it is perhaps nearly blasphemous to jus that a band can thrash as hard as they were on most of the disk, then do a couple of sickly sweet sort of power ballad that does not go with the rest of the tracks, yet that is the paradox in the Japanese metal world.

The heavy parts of the album hold the best as it is some really good early Thrash/Power Metal... but the ballads have to eliminated and destroyed. Buy the album for the heaviness and sheer power of it, and I guess you can hopefully ignore the sappy stuff... if Outrage gets a foothold over here, they need to stop recording the wimpy stuff and go with their true strengths
that they show here. Power Metal!!

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship:9
Atmosphere: 7 (The ballads did the damage here)
Production: 8.5
Originality: 8
Overall: 8.5

Rating: 8.2 out of 10