Review by Ben for Vio-Lence - Let the World Burn (2022)

Before you read this review, it's worth noting that I gave Vio-Lence's beloved 1988 release Eternal Nightmare 3 stars. It was clearly a high quality thrash metal album, but I really hated vocalist Sean Killian's performance. A lot!

With that said, it's safe to say that I wasn't particularly thrilled to see that the band had reformed (albeit with an altered line-up). With initial ratings for this EP on RYM being pretty low, I must admit I went into this all ready to stick knives into it while laughing hysterically. As it turns out though, I don't hate it. In fact, this EP contains five tracks of very solid late 80's thrash metal, with good musicianship and energy. Even Killian's vocals are for the most part tolerable, refraining from impersonating a punch-drunk Paul Baloff, and delivering much more control than expected. He's still a bit of a liability, with his tendency to go up and down in tone still grating on my nerves, but he doesn't completely ruin the experience as he previously did.

In the end it's only the fact that this is a relatively short EP that stops me giving it 3.5 stars, and I must admit to enjoying it more than Destruction's latest full length. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually wouldn't mind a new full length Vio-Lence album.