Bay Area thrashers Hatchet are set to release their third album, Fear Beyond Lunacy, on Friday, Oct. 30, via The End Records. Back with a revamped lineup but still led by mainstay singer-guitarist Julz Ramos, Hatchet sound as fresh as ever with 45 minutes of neck-wrecking fury, and Loudwire has the exclusive stream of the full album above!

Fear Beyond Lunacy is an exercise in surgical thrash as melodic leads slice and dice their way through the speeding rhythms. Ramos utilizes a gritty, high voice sounding like a missing link between Destruction's Schmier and the late Paul Baloff of Exodus. Musical comparisons can be drawn between those two thrash icons as well, with Hatchet crafting a caustic mix between German and Bay Area thrash.

Commenting on the album, Ramos states, "As the main force behind the writing of Fear Beyond Lunacy, I feel this is the best album to date. It offers stronger songs, catchier riffs and different tempos while lyrically focusing on our society of fear engrossed, media-addicted slaves." Adding to this concept, he continued, "There is always some big conspiracy happening or natural disaster predicted by someone hundreds of years ago that everyone in some form or another seems to live their lives in fear of. We are constantly hooked on what our media is feeding us to believe to be true and what we should be afraid of today, tomorrow, next month/year etc.."

The eye-catching album cover directly reflects this concept while keeping in line with what anyone would expect and want out from a thrash band. Ramos added, "The cover artwork (by Andrej Bartulovic from All Things Rotten) depicts what I see us becoming as a modern society."

Fans can pre-order Hatchet's Fear Beyond Lunacy via iTunes. For those looking for a bit more, the band is offering an exclusive bundle package that includes the CD, a t-shirt and a beer koozie.

Hatchet are currently on tour supporting punk legend Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein. Fans can find the list of tour dates and ticket links on Hatchet's Facebook page.

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