The Exalted Piledriver - Metal Manifesto

March 6, 2009

Reviewer: J. A. Burt

Woefully underrated Canadian thrash band Piledriver have resurfaced after a lengthy absence from the realm of metal with a new moniker, new lineup, and excellent new album Metal Manifesto.  For reasons unknown, most likely due to other (lesser) Piledrivers running around out there, the band is now known as The Exalted Piledriver.  Vocalist Gord “Piledriver” Kirchin is the sole remaining member from the band’s previous incarnation, but Metal Manifesto thrashes just as hard as anything they’ve ever done.

This is thrash the way it used to be.  A noticeable classic/power metal vibe permeates the bulk of the material, and it’s pretty obvious that any modern feel is purely an inevitable consequence of the advances in recording technology over the last twenty-two or so years since their last release Stay Ugly.

The more up-tempo tracks definitely fare better, and the triumvirate of “I am the One”, “Metal Manifesto”, and “The Last Day of the Weak” is just fantastic, staying with you loooong after you’ve listened to the album.

Kirchin’s delightfully perverse lyrics, delivered in his snarling manner, are probably not as shocking today as they might have been in the mid-eighties, but are still a hoot, and several of the songs have the trademark Piledriver humor running through them.  “The Things I Give” works best, and is absolutely hilarious (did he just say ‘man-teats’???).  New guitarist Mark “Kinky Pork Cream” Kopernicky’s riffs and solos are technical and maniacal, driving the tracks’ with a fevered fury missing from the masses of thrashy-come-lately hipsters popping up left and right these days.

Comeback albums are generally a dicey proposition, and many of them simply fall flat, threatening to tarnish the good names of the bands releasing them, but thankfully this is not the case with Metal Manifesto.  Come to think of it, I’d much rather listen to this album than most of the recent albums put out by bands from the same era.  Bands like Death Angel, Exodus, and Annihilator would do well to pick this one up!

Release Date: Octoberr 31st, 2008
Label: Northern Storm Records

TRACK LISTING

1. From Ashes Arise (intro)
2. Bloodbath
3. I Am The One
4. Metal Manifesto
5. The Last Day Of The Weak
6. Volatile
7. When I Saw Your Face
8. Battle Axe
9. God You're Stupid II
10. Unsuck My Cock
11. The Things I Give
12. Road Pigs

Total playing time: 42:28

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