✦✦✦✧ This is at least more fun and interesting than Metallica’s 72 Seasons, if we’re comparing 80s acts with “metal” in their names. Newcomer Marc Lopes does a pretty solid and entertaining job with the vocals. Otherwise, there’s both enough vintage thrash here to satisfy old school MC fans, as well as something a bit different for the band: a sound that’s more modern, aggressive, and epic.

✦✦✦✧ This could just be the feel-good hit of the summer: high-quality thrash, updated for a newer generation without feeling like it’s overly pandering or forgetting its roots. Kurdt Venderhoof’s songwriting is consistently strong throughout the whole album, the musicianship as polished as ever… but the real standout here is vocalist Mike Howe, which is reminscient of Blitz Ellsworth at times.

★☆☆☆ Remember a few years back, when Exodus stunned us all with “Tempo Of The Damned,” a stubbornly triumphant work of neo-thrash? Yeah, well “Generation Nothing” is pretty much the polar opposite of that album. It’s a a thrash time capsule with nothing (except for somewhat better production value) to show for it.