Wait, is that Judge Death trying to bust out of iso? God help Dredd and Mega-City One, if that's the case. If it seems like I'm taking this review as seriously as a dirty fantasy knock with Judge Anderson, well, come on, you know why. MUNICIPAL WASTE has hardly taken itself seriously, even if the band is a keen retro thrash player. Over the years, MUNICIPAL WASTE has dropped goofy numbers like "Headbanger Face Rip", "The Thrashin' of the Christ", "Bangover", "Guilty of Being Tight", "Beer Pressure", "Horny for Blood" and "Wolves of Chernobyl". Let the evidence indict Tony Foresta, Ryan Waste and the gang to a minimum of ten in the nyuk nyuk cube. Dropping its first full-length in five years, "Slime and Punishment", we can't necessarily say MUNICIPAL WASTE has grown up a bit, not with tracks titled "Bourbon Discipline", "Breathe Grease", "Poison the Preacher" and "Shrednecks". While not as in-your-face riotous this time around, "Slime and Punishment" is another fast scamper—14 songs in less than half an hour, awesome sauce—through the muck that gives MUNICIPAL WASTE its grimy verve. That will suit its fans plenty. Do we really need to break down this album in gross detail? From out of the gate with "Breathe Grease", you know what you're getting: fast-pounding thrash in the vein of NUCLEAR ASSAULT. The band's sound is dotted with murky and sometimes funky bass lines from Phil "Land Phil" Hall, Tony Foresta's screeching yelps and, of course, gang-shouted choruses. Let's not forget the pit-happy breakdown. Well, you get more of the same in half the time on the 49-second "Enjoy the Night" and then a minute forty of the scheme in reverse on the SUICIDAL TENDECIES-esque "Dingy Situations". The mean-spirited "Poison the Preacher" goes even faster with Dave Witte's double-hammered chaos for two minutes, but not before MUNICIPAL WASTE peels out the hilariously stupid and stupid-fast "Shrednecks". The mosh fest swirling behind "Bourbon Discipline" is nearly as nutty as EXODUS's "Toxic Waltz". Here MUNICIPAL WASTE tears off like the entire band pulled down three successive shots of Woodford Reserve in triple-dog-dare-you fashion prior to hitting the take. "Parole Violators" thereafter? Faster than Cuban drug runners on the lam, Tony Foresta even out-hollers himself at the song's breakneck (or is it breakout?) pace. Rolling through a quasi-concept on the heels of "Parole Violators" with the title track, "Amateur Sketch", "Low Tolerance" and "Death Proof", MUNICIPAL WASTE just does what they do, unabashed and with traceable glee. "Excessive Celebration" comes with theNFL reportedly looking to curb post-play shenanigans. The league's mandatory pre-season film to its players will likely be missed by most, as many listeners will miss MUNICIPAL WASTE's jibe against mass violence. MUNICIPAL WASTE may be finding less reason to brodown following the death of drumming alumni Brandon Ferrell last year, but there's no stopping the band's moshing mayhem. "Slime and Punishment" changes no schemes and it spares no rods. It may not be as flagrantly funny as "Hazardous Mutation" and "The Art of Partying", but it slays as ever, particularly on the brisk instrumental "Under the Waste Command". At least MUNICIPAL WASTE has never had to pay the dues D.R.I, BROKEN BONES and SUICIDAL TENDENCIES did to foster this sound.
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