Whiplash - Insult to Injury (1989)^{Release ID: 6710}

The Metal Academy Review Drafts are certainly making me check out releases that I probably never would have otherwise. As much as I enjoyed Whiplash's debut album Power and Pain from 1986, I'd never considered delving any further into their discography. Having now spent some time with their third release, Insult to Injury, I don't think I've missed out on all that much, but that's not to say that there's no enjoyment to be had. By this point the band had taken a significant step away from the Exodus-like aggression of the debut and moved into more Judas Priest style heavy metal. In fact, there's so much heavy metal on this album that I don't think it would sound out of place in The Guardians. I think this transition is a bit problematic for the band though. When you can no longer hide behind thrashing intensity, songwriting ability becomes far more important, and unfortunately Insult to Injury is a bit hit and miss on that front. For every good track, such as the title track and highlight Essence of Evil, there's a less memorable effort, such as Hiroshima and the appropriately titled Rape of the Mind. In the end this is a decent listen for anyone that enjoys bands that straddle the heavy / thrash line (such as Metal Church), but it's an album I likely won't go back to very often.