Sacrifice – The Ones I Condemn (2009) [Roadrunner] // Grade: A

Canadian metal! The thrash band Sacrifice regrouped recently and recorded The Ones I Condemn, their best release to date, spanning their 16 year career as a thrash metal band. Their sound has matured and they are more brutal than before. Rob Urbinati’s vocals are just as sneering as ever, meshing his howling voice with an onslaught of well-orchestrated riffs.

The title track, “The Ones I Condemn” along with “Give Me Justice” and “Hiroshima” are the tracks that deliver pure thrash anthems. “The Great Wall” is followed by “Tetragrammaton”, the slowest track on the album and by far my favorite. Just about every track on The Ones I Condemn delivers pure Canadian metal to be compared to the likes of Slayer.

Sacrifice ended the album out with two re-recorded tracks, “Burned at the Stake” and the “Entity”. When compared to the original recordings, these are far superior in production quality and precision. If you enjoyed Sacrifice’s previous albums, you’ll love The Ones I Condemn. It’s a healthy mix of their old sound and a matured, new sound. If only every ‘reunion’ album were this good.

Be on the look out for their live DVD, Live Reanimation later this year.

- Prolly