San Diego-based three-piece thrash-metal throwbacks Until the Fall released Enslaved in 2006. Forging a blunt instrument that is equal parts punk and metal, Until the Fall, with shouted vocals and a nonstop barrage of guitars, come on like the earliest days of Slayer, minus the satanic imagery. Throughout the album, guitarist/vocalist Arian consistently impresses with his simple but ever-powerful guitar playing and hardcore style — utterly enraged yelling. The occasional mosh breaks up the uniformly uptempo blitz and fans of Anthrax, Slayer's Hell Awaits and the wall-punching, ticked off nature of mid '80s speed metal will find little to argue with here despite Until the Fall's relative obscurity and unwarrantedly meager output (this singular release). Maiden-ready fills and the down-tuned heaviness of "Alone In the Crowd" kick the album off suitably but it's with "Genocide," "Your Will Is My Enemy" and the title cut that Enslaved becomes a record worthy of the thrash categorization. They resurrect the ghosts of the punk-metal scene's origins (think Born Against) with a multi-layered, expertly executed closer, "Ocean of Misery."