Review of the Album "Hazardous Mutation" by American Thrash Metal Band Municipal Waste

In the career of Virginia thrash metal band Municipal Waste, there has been perhaps the shortest heavy metal album in the history of the genre and crossover thrash that has lots of fiery emotion and anger in it. Their 2005 studio album called “Hazardous Mutation” is not only less than 18 minutes with songs around 50 seconds, 1.5 minutes or 2 minutes but as usual; their albums are still short and over fast. Let’s clarify this statement. This 2005 album is not super short like their previous album called Waste ‘Em All.

Even so, it is still shorter than the classic 1986 thrash metal album Reign in Blood by Slayer.

The approach from Municipal Waste is still the same; they are angry at society and the status quo. The band is expressing their anger and fury at mainstream politicians through songs such as Unleash the Ba******. I guess they wanted to point out that it is time for the elected leaders to be held accountable for their actions.

Another thing that really leaves me bewildered is the narration in the beginning of the song called Guilty of Being Tight. Accelerated Vision has some melody in it but the band tried to make themselves look a little diverse with some bass experimentation but this attempt becomes average. Even so, Hazardous Mutation may be the strongest album that I have heard from Municipal Waste.

Hazardous Mutation the title track tells the story of what happens as radiation exposure increases and the safety and security of human life on Planet Earth is threatened. Be warned that these are real life issues that other bands have covered. Municipal Waste addresses these issues very quickly through their songs as the songs end in the blink of an eye. Black Ice is just 23 seconds long and the message is obvious: black ice can cause hazards for drivers and pedestrians alike. There is a reference to the fact that Cliff Burton was killed because of the bus slipping on a patch of black ice in Sweden. The Thrashin’ of the Christ is a song that is critical of organized religion and against the teachings of Jesus. I myself think that HE exists but there are many that would disagree. Overall, Hazardous Mutation is the strongest album from Virginia’s Municipal Waste but they should make their songs just a bit longer and clean up their lyrical themes.