Hirax - Hate, Fear & Power (1986)

Furious, bass-rattling thrash from these cult metal-heads who spent muc of the '80s in no man's land despite two frantic releases, including this hyper-thrash EP. Somewhat a cult band after their 'Raging Violence' debut. 'Hate...'[ follows a similar face-ripping path with those crossover leanings, particularly in the vocal attack of DePena and those harmful guitars courtesy of Scott Owen. This EP gallops by at such a pace that it'll take at least another handful of listens to catch hold of it. Eight tracks, none of which break the three-minute barrier, and then they were gone, only to return two decades later with a different line-up (although DePena still stars). Hard to pick a best track, nothing stands out, in fact this EP is just a blur apart from the mid-paced chuggery that punctuates 'The Plague.' Bass player Eric Brecht's performance on this opus should be noted, but 'Hate...' just has no ability to dig its claws in, in fact it's an album that deserves a speeding ticket. 6/10