Never heard of Contradiction before? This is a little strange because they have infected our universe with their contagious thrash attack for more than 20 years. This German metallers are a fine specimen of what thrash should be like. Aggressive, straight in your face heavy and speedy songs with hardcore-like vocals. The thundering gallopping bass drums keep the tempo very high most of the time.

They are not very original, but they use influences of German and American thrash combo's and moult it into effective songs. Slayer, Kreator, Testament and Sacred Reich must be favourite colleagues of Contradiction. On their earlier album 'The Warchitect' they used some clean vocals, but fortunately they quit using them on 'The Essence of Anger'. Sometimes I hear references to another German band, Cripper. It's not always full speed ahead, and that makes the album more interesting. "The Spectator" for example is a heavy, more mid-tempo song with a nice drive, which prevents the record from getting a little boring.

One thing that perhaps can get a bit irritating is the vocals, they have not enough variety, but that's just a matter of taste. In the end the conclusion is that this a good thrash record. I think this band has to get the chance to step a little higher on the thrash ladder and you can help them by buying "The Essence of Anger". You won't regret it.