The Germans are claiming new territory in the modern Thrash scene. Dust Bolt’s “Trapped in Chaos” is sonic assault and battery, inflicting blunt force trauma onto listener brains and eardrums. This is a new classic of the Thrash renaissance, delivering fully on the visceral physical listener reaction that this genre does best. Think Nuclear Assault, Exodus, Destruction, Heathen, Testament, Kreator, Wargasm, primordial Slayer, “Kill ‘Em All” Metallica, early Megadeth, Helstar, and pieces of Overkill. These songs are destined to spin mosh pits into frenzies, whenever wherever Dust Bolt take the stage.

Their focus is less on the horror movie evil than some other Thrash majors, more on the aggressive. Whatever works. Lyrically, they bring the anguish and aggression and a bit of social consciousness, sans the preaching. Lenny Bruce mans guitars and lead microphone for Dust Bolt (that’s his real name); he has very limited vocal range, but no matter - - he has a great-sounding voice, that delivers perfectly on all of the melodic parts. Hey, Schwarzenegger had almost no range as an actor, but he was (almost) always effective in his roles.
Standout tracks on “Trapped in Chaos”: The entire first album side (so to speak) is Top Tier Thrash excellence, including: “The Fourth,” especially “Dead Inside,” “The Bad Ad,” and “Bloody Rain.” “Shed My Skin” sounds like an abandoned Tesla song that got converted into something way heavier - - it shows another side of this band. “Another Day in Hell” also shows another facet of Dust Bolt, bringing a melodic, clean-to-distorted guitar not-quite-ballad, in the vein of Metal Church classic: “Watch the Children Prey.” I also missed “Chaos Possession” on my first album pass, but it’s one of the highlights, with a Warrior Soul-reminiscent chorus.
At the time of this review, I have not yet heard Overkill’s “The Wings of War,” which is due out in February 2019 - - but the bad boys from Jersey might have competitors for “Best Thrash Album of the Year.” Dust Bolt is that good.