Thrall is too heavy to be an alternative band, too smart to be a metal band, too speedy to be a stoner rock band, too polished to be a garage band, and too good to remain obscure for long. If you had to stick the group into a category,
Thrall seems most like the Midwestern American answer to the Scandinavian "return to the rock" purveyors, à la
Hellacopters, but even that's not completely right; the rhythm section positively chugs, the riffs overflow from your speakers, and tying it all together is the demented and semi-coherent warbling of former
God Bullies screamer Mike Hard. "God Damn Devil" and "Remove and Replace" highlight an excellent, bone-crushing debut. ~ Brian O'Neill