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Pretty much as in your face as you can get, American thrash metallers Hurtlocker's sophomore declaration of pure aggression is so menacing you can actually feel your ass being repeatedly kicked with each scathing note.

Following their 2006 debut "Fear in a Handful of Dust" rather admirably, the manic confluence of extreme styles they combine is a comforting, yet frightening experience. With their sound owing more to the modern thrash methods than the Bay Area, Hurtlocker offer a battering mixture of brutal, pounding, lightning-fast riffing, crunchy breakdowns, and rapid blast beats all laced with vocalist Grant Belcher's venomous death metal growls and hardcore rasping. Not exactly the most inventive or innovative release this genre has spawned in recent years, Hurtlocker at least play their thrash with an intense conviction, certainly giving bands like Legion of the Damned a run for their money.

Despite the rather contemporary approach and hardcore attitude, a lot of the material gracing "Embrace the Fall" snuggles itself warming in the grindcore genre - particularly the Napalm Death-esque hammering of "They"- but there is no disputing the style they adhere to, as "Outside Are the Dogs" and "Let Them Die" so proudly demonstrate how undiluted these guys are, with pure, unbridled aggression lending a portentously belligerent message that suggests Hurtlocker are a very angry sort indeed.