Although one of the founders of the Bay Area Thrash Metal movement in the mid 80's, Laaz Rockit never achieved the same level of success that some of their contemporaries such as Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Exodus and Testament did. Their 1984 debut album The City's Gonna Burn was a critically acclaimed release and the band managed to release 5 studio albums and a live album before disbanding in 1992. In 2005, the original Laaz Rockit line-up reunited to do some shows with Testament and Anthrax as well as an appearance at the Dynamo Festival. More shows followed and due to the overwhelmingly positive response, the band decided to give another go with a brand new studio album. Their "comeback" album Left For Dead is a blistering chunk of aggressive thrash metal that Testament's Chuck Billy calls "the best Laaz Rockit album ever!"

I remember hearing some Laaz Rockit tunes back in the band's heyday but the sheer aggression, huge thundering riffs and shouting vocals of Michael Coons on Left For Dead has taken this band to a whole new level. With a relentless barrage of chunky guitars, pummelling double bass work and a monstrous wall of sound that rivals some of the best sounding thrash metal albums in the genre, Laaz Rockit literally torches anything that claims to be "the new wave" of thrash metal with a classic "old-school" sounding album. The opening track Brain Wash sets the tone with it's wild, crazy riffing and thundering heaviness. The aggressive vocal style blends well with the riffs and even allows for some more melody-infused chorus sections. Slow chugging thrash with flurries of double bass are found with Delirium Void, Erased and My Euphoria. These tracks wander in and out of the domains of classic Megadeth and Persistence Of Time era Anthrax. The aggression, anger and speedier thrash makes return appearances with Turmoil and No Man whereas Liar is a classic mix of thundering heaviness, huge chugging rifs and some great atmospheric lead breaks. Tracks like Ghost In The Mirror and Desolate Oasis offer nice changes of pace with quiet intros while slowly building in intensity and heaviness. Atmospheric riffing and overall ominous tones create solid dynamics for these tracks that give your neck a bit of a well- deserved rest during the listening experience. The album closes with a killer instrumental track called Outro that features shredding and atmospheric leads including some very tastefully done dive-bomb tremolo work; all creating a very "thematic" feel to the track. Three live tunes; the classic Leather Face as well as Prelude and Fire In The Whole are included as U.S. only bonus tracks.

It's great to see a resurgence of some of the founders of the Bay Area thrash scene including Megadeth, Testament, Death Angel and Exodus. New albums by these bands including this new one Left For Dead by Laaz Rockit put to shame all these so-called "new wave" of thrash metal bands that are claiming to recapture the classic thrash sound. Left For Dead is a relentless barrage of aggressive thrash metal yet allows room for dynamics and melody. With a huge wall of sound, excellent production and some killer rip-your-face off riffs, its pure euphoria for the thrash metal enthusiasts. Leave it to the old-school masters to show how it's done.