MUNICIPAL WASTE
The Last Rager
NUCLEAR BLAST
8/10
CROSSOVER THRASH: The Last Rager is Richmond, Virginia’s crossover thrash party animals Municipal Waste’s new four track EP. Despite the misleading title, Municipal Waste isn’t breaking up. The song and title are hilariously based off of a true story that happened on the band’s recent tour.
Featuring vocalist Tony Foresta, guitarists Ryan Waste and Nick Poulos, drummer Dave Witte, and bassist LandPhil Hall, the retro thrash crossover quintet does what it does best during the 10 minute album runtime.
“Wave of Death” opens the recording with a infectious, headbanging slamming riff, decorated with a simplistic chorus and accompanied by some awesome “ohh oh oh” thrash gang chants. It’s a great start to the EP, because typically Municipal Waste songs are cram packed with lyrics, but this allows Foresta to take a bit of a break, especially in the live setting.
“Car Nivore (Street Meat)” has a very strong Suicidal Tendencies/D.R.I. flavor, with quick paced riffing and a slamming rhythm section. Foresta’s fleet-footed vocal style, his quick play on words, and its call and response gang chants are typically wonderful Waste elements. “Rum for Your Life is also a killer play on words, consisting of chugging, mid paced thrash riffs and a huge gang chanted chorus, while album closer and title track (written about an all-night party with one last rager standing) contains a pounding, chugging intro, à la Anthrax or S.O.D., with Suicidal Tendencies-esque gang chants.
The Last Rager is a short but sweet slab of crossover rage to tie fans over until a new full-length Municipal Waste studio album drops, which the band is writing at the moment with a mid 2020 release date in sight. ~ Kelley Simms