Metal Underground.com

Adrenechrome's "Hideous Appetites" is part hard rock, part thrash and part hardcore — and manages to fuse all of that into quite an entertaining whole. If this is an example of what the band can put out as a debut, I'm really looking forward to a second and third helping.

Ax-man and chief composer Chris Friesen keeps his focus where it belongs — creating headcrushing riffs. That he and fellow guitarist Time Kehoe manage to combine so many of them, both furiously fast and sludgily slow on a single track, "The Horror" is an impressive feat that a lot of more experienced bands still haven't managed to pull off.

But while you're definitely going to be banging your head to this stuff, don't be surprised if your hips shake a little too. This is definitely a groovier affair than most thrash. Yeah, the band lists Pantera as an influence, but this is a whole different vibe. It's almost like drummer Matt Copeland is trying to combine Vinnie Paul and Phil Rudd, and it really works well.

The band also manages to put a great pop sheen on some of the tracks, with guitar breakdowns in both "Titans Fall" and "Six Guns" that are reminiscent of Thin Lizzy.

The one slight knock I have against this EP is Friesen's vocals, which, though adequate, rely a little overly much on hardcore shouting, even though some tunes ("Winds Of The Void" particularly) would have benefited from a slightly less throat-tearing approach.

That said, this is a helluva debut, full of head-banging, hip-shaking modern-day thrash. As I said earlier, if this is what the band does with its debut disc, here's hoping they come up with a second helping soon.