The 10 Greatest Thrash Releases Of 2015

8. Viking – No Child Left Behind

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Must hear track: “Eaten By A Bear”; one hell of a great name for a song and an insane entry into the annals of thrash!

The return of any classic 80’s thrash band is a reason to celebrate and this particular reformation, of a perennially overlooked mob, was manna from heaven for hardcore thrash fans!

All but consigned to the history books after splitting in 1990, Viking – resurrected by original members Ron Eriksen and Matt Jordan in 2011 – have slowly but surely turned people back on to their brand of Bay Area crunch and No Child Left Behind was the thrilling result.

Rounding up a few old buddies in the formidable shape of bassist Mike Gonzalez (Dark Angel), Justin Zych and drumming legend Gene Hoglan (the atomic clock handling recording purposes only) the frenetic and classic sound of Bay-Area thrash was back with an almighty bang!

The question true thrashers may have asked themselves was does No Child Left Behind stand toe to toe with their late 80’s classics Do Or Die and Man Of Straw? The answer was simple, too fucking right it did! Expertly channeling the finest moments from each to create something resolutely old-school – while still sounding like a modern exercise in showing the young guns how it’s done – Viking took the unhinged edge of Do Or Die and the more refined nature of Man Of Straw and forged a whole new rampaging recording from both.

No Child Left Behind was one release that made you glad to scream “the viking’s are coming!”