Suicidal Tendencies 

No Mercy Fool! / The Suicidal Family

Suicidal Records 2010

This isn't really a new album from So Cal crossover legends Suicidal Tendencies but a rerecording of some songs off of their second album Join The Army as well as some tracks from the second album from Speed metallers No Mercy which features ST guitarist Mike Clark.  But I am going to take a different approach in this review and treat this as a brand new release as I normally find rerecordings of old material to be worthless.  So I will view this with blinders on.  And with that in mind, I actually really like this album.  Punchy crossover thrash with that trademark Suicidal feel, Mike Muir's distinctive vocals sounding solid while Steve's bass lines are out of this world.  The sci-fi guitar leads on Possessed to Skate are lethal, and the track is full of a mature vigor.  I Feel Your Pain is frantic and wild with its quick fretwork and rapid-fire vocal lines belted out by Mike Muir's unmistakable throat.  A powerful street-stomping vibe leaps from the speakers and the bass lines are sprayed like the machinegun fire of a marksman on Join the ST Army.  The frantic excitement of skate metal shreds skin from the fingers as ST slices through the classic Born To Be Cyco throwing in little nuances here and there for a pure upgrade.  Whereas amazing guitar solos jump on board of the galloping riffing of Come Alive.  No Mercy Fool has a traditional metal style fused with an almost rap delivery at its outset, but a blast of insanely fast thrash riffing flays the flesh from your body.  We're F'N Evil blinds you with its dizzying bass-lines and lightning quick riffing.  This instrumental overload continues on I'm Your Nightmare, as intricate bass lines and insane guitar solos accentuate frenzied thrash riffs.  Basically it boils down to this, if you liked How Will I Laugh and Light's Camera era ST then this album will pull you back into that era where ST combined mature musicianship and youthful energy.  Which isn't a surprise since they are taking their early material and smoothing out the rough edges and upping the instrumental skill within each song's execution.  One thing's for sure, after all these years, these guys are still Cyco!!!