BAND OF THE DAY: ABSERDO

Considering how much impact thrash had on extreme metal and grindcore, you don't hear so much of that toxic holocaust in many of today's neo-riff kings, merrily soloing away in their Bermuda shorts. It's like the '80s are being remembered solely as an endless parade of different Transformers and poorly rendered Saturday morning cartoons, and not the looming threat of the Cold War turning red hot, police brutality, political corruption, or race riots in the crowded inner city.

Glorified pop-punk masquerading as thrash metal does all bands who operated in that decade a great disservice, pissing on the legacy they've convinced themselves they're honouring through their gormless, up tempo squawking.

Philadelphia's fresh faced Abserdo sprang from the ground in 2008, combining razor edged thrash, punk and grindcore into a true crossover medley of anarchic, uncoordinated fury. Coupled with sheer, forehead mashing irreverence on their slim discography, the highlight of which is this year's 'Slim Baby Eagle's Coop' 7" which brings the grinding menace to the fore, like a pitbull straining at the leash of snarling, spat, punked up thrash vocals.

It's that same, caustic balance perfected by DRI, SOD, The Accused, Wehrmacht and a drearily decreasing number since. Crossover thrash can be pretty stupid, and it can be genuine and relevant. Rare are the band who can still manage bothy.