Ramming Speed Fortell the Death of ‘Retro’ Thrash

Oh, 'retro' thrash. Was the thrash metal explosion of the past few years a marketing ploy cooked up by label executives or the long-awaited recognition of a hardworking bunch of bands? It's anybody's guess, though many artists and fans seem to be leaning towards the former nowadays.

Boston heshers Ramming Speed have been shaking up the establishment and destroying basements the world over since 2005, bringing their potent blend of crust, grind, thrash metal and good ol' rock 'n roll to the masses and catching the eye of metal titan Candlelight Records along the way. A recent reissue of their debut, 'Brainwreck,' has been making waves and kicking up circle pits all across the globe and the band shows no sign of slowing down their manic pace or giving in to trends.

Drummer Jonah weighed in on the 'thrash revival,' telling Noisecreep, "As far as trends go, which it obviously is right now, I think thrash is probably one of the most honest ones. It's a genre deeply rooted in looking like a shithead, drinking tons of beer and having as much fun as possible. It's way better then all the eyeliner whine metal that's going around these days. That said, we'll see whose still touring and working hard in a few years. A lot of bands are going to get bored and move onto another band wagon. Same with the record labels ..."

Don't get the wrong idea, though; there are scores of bad-ass, modern thrash bands making the rounds without the benefit of major label support or trendy gimmicks. Jonah shouted out ANS as a prime example of a band that's doing it the right way. "ANS from Texas are one of our favorites right now," he said. "Dudes do thrash in a Black Flag/DRI flavor that f---ing rips. They tour their asses off, skateboard hard as sh-t, and are definitely real as hell. Their new LP just dropped on Tank Crimes and anyone that doesn't mind some punk in their thrash will love it."