Candlelight Records has set a February 3, 2014 European release date for "The Virus Conspires", the full-length debut from English thrash metallers SHRAPNEL. Produced by Russ Russell (NAPALM DEATH, EVILE), it features artwork from Eliran Kantor (TESTAMENT, ATHEIST). The album and its lead single, "Titan", will be available for preorder via iTunes and other digital platforms beginning January 6. Fast, furious, and uncompromising, "The Virus Conspires" is propelled by its freshness and electric intensity. Sonically imposing and explosive, songs like "Braindead", "Red Terror" and album opener "Kingdom Come" are sure to quickly catapult the band to a global audience. Metal Hammer's Dom Lawson has already proclaimed the band an up-and-comer. Commenting on the band's sound, SHRAPNEL guitarist Chris Martin notes: "Individually, we are pretty different in our tastes, but when we put it all together it works. "For us, the energy in thrash is just so much more satisfying than anything else. It's technically challenging and exhausting to play live and it gives you that buzz, that rush of adrenaline that few other genres do. It's got to have balls and it's got to have attitude. "When you find a band that has that bite to them, that testosterone-driven aggression, it's just killer. And that's what we do." Formed in April 2009, the five-man wrecking crew initially bonded over their lack of a vibrant local metal scene. Driven to provide what few others seemed to be doing, SHRAPNEL pooled their myriad influences and came up with a sound that at its formidable core celebrates pure-to-the-bone thrash and speed metal but one that never fails to keep eye on the future of the genre. Proudly citing MEGADETH, SLAYER, TESTAMENT and EXODUS as influences, the band also assimilates elements of everything from traditional heavy metal to modern death metal. The result is a thrilling lesson in neck-wrecking sonic violence. Still buzzing from their triumphant set at Bloodstock Open Air in August, SHRAPNEL is slated to appear alongside KREATOR, OVERKILL and labelmates CORROSION OF CONFORMITY at Hammerfest VI in North Wales (March 13-16). "The Virus Conspire" track listing:01. Kingdom Come02. Titan03. Braindead04. 2205. The Virus Conspires06. The Wake07. Red Terror08. The Watchers09. Pseudocommando10. Poison the Mind11. All That We Know SHRAPNEL is vocalist Jae Hadley, guitarists Nathan Sadd and Chris Martin, bassist Shaun Mcelhinney and drummer Simon Jackson.
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