Metal Underground.com

With "Time Is Up," Denver-based Havok turns time back to around 1989 to serve up a solid slab of old-school thrash that blends the speed and rhythmic sensibilities of Anthrax with the virtuosity of Megadeth and the take-no-prisoners vocals of early Slayer. In other words, it starts kicking your ass from the moment you hit play, and doesn't ever let up.

What separates Havok from the rest of the recent thrash revival crowd is the band's dedication to rhythm. Drummer Pete Webber might not be the flashiest drummer out there, but he makes sure to give just the right amount of groove to the slower sections of tunes like "Fatal Intervention." No one's ever going to mistake any of these tracks for dance music, but Webber and bassist Jesse de los Santos are given enough room amid the wall of guitars to add an appealing swing to the songs.

Ax-men Dave Sanchez and Reece Scruggs perform to near perfection on tracks like "Scumbag In Disguise," creating extended instrumental sections that flow smoothly from riffs to face-melting solos. The solos are the one thing that feels slightly more modern, with some having an arpeggiated, power metal feel to them.

Sanchez also provides vocals, backed up by de los Santos, and he does quite well at conveying the album's relentlessly aggressive vibe. The gang chorus moments on "Out Of My Way" have an especially old-school feel to them.

It feels a little strange to criticize a thrash band for playing too fast, but the few times that the band loses focus are on tracks like "No Amnesty" and "Out Of My Way," in which the sheer velocity overwhelms the great rhythmic sensibility that only slightly slower tracks like "Time Is Up" manage to maintain. It's hardly a fatal flaw, though.

Old-school thrash fans are going to be wreaking Havok's "Time Is Up" on their neighbors with the windows rolled down and the volume cranked up to 11. It's an excellent disc full of monster riffs, solos and grooves.