Dublin Death Patrol could possibly be called a supergroup but that isn't really the thrash way to do things so we'll merely call this a "friends project" that started way back in 1980.

Hailing from Dublin, California, you may start to get more interested when I tell you that these bunch of friends made a far bigger splash than this band, among them Chuck Billy with Testament, Steve Zetro Souza (Legacy/Exodus/Hatriot), Willy Lange (Laaz Rockit) and Troy Luccketta of Tesla fame. Not a bad line up and add to that local friends who the more famous will tell you "deserved status" and you've got yourself a thrash band of pretty epic preportions (especially when they consider themselves to be a 10 man revolving band).

After a few years writing and performing together, they released their debut in 2005 ('DDP4Life') with Vinnie Wojno producing (Testament/Vio-Lence/Trouble) and, in 2011, they came back with this release, 'Death Sentence', which is getting another push.

And unlike most side projects where people tend to explore outside of their normal realm, DDP go straight for the jugular and you'll receive a good old fashioned thrash that the purists will love. This isn't a vanity project, it's a full on, peddle to the metal hoedown that you know would have seen these guys try and make it together if they didn't make it to the top with their other bands. This is thrash metal that was born and breed in the '80s by pioneering men of that era.

'Mind Sewn Shut' starts us off and you get both Billy and Souza singing together on what can only be described as an old skool thrash tune - heads down, flying V, t-shirt and jeans with boundless energy: yeah THAT kind of tune! 'Dehumanize' is up next and the music still barks loud and so do the vocals as Chuck Billy goes all growly on us whilst Steve Zetro Souza does his best thrash Bon Scott to back him up. 'Blood Sirens' sounds like Exodus interspersed with Testament throughout so what more can you ask for?!

'Conquer And Divide', 'Macabre Candor', 'Welcome To Hell' and 'Death Toll Rising' all bring you more than enough thrash metal to remind Slipknot fans exactly where this stuff came from to begin with without ignoring the fact that times have changed for these guys.

The whole album is pretty much a bonus treat for all thrash fans let alone Testament and Exodus fans and that's where its greatness lies. Some might say that it's not as good as a Testament album, some might say that it's no Exodus album but you'd be missing the point of DDP - this is a project of love and you can tell. With the resurgence in 'proper' thrash metal in the last few years with bands like Municipal Waste, this can only be a reminder that there was more to thrash than the Big Four alone and that amongst the rest of the bands playing, there truly are some class acts still going.

Is it worth spending some thrash cash on...you bet your fuckin' hi-tops it is.

www.dublindeathpatrol.com