With bands like Cryptic Slaughter and Wehrmacht broken up, D.R.I. seemingly only interested in touring, and Corrosion of Conformity finding more satisfaction as a Molly Hatchet tribute band, America could use a band to pick up the fallen bandana of crossover metal. But who will step up to the challenge of recreating the glory days? Can any band skateboard into our hearts the same way Excel and Suicidal Tendencies did?

It seems Municipal Waste are going to give it their best shot. The band's appeared on split releases with Crucial Unit and Bad Acid trip and released the impressive EP Waste 'Em All in 2003. Now they've returned with their first full length album and best offering to date, Hazardous Mutation.

Hazardous Mutation delivers 16 tracks of blistering thrash metal in 26 minutes. There's nothing particularly new here, especially if you're a longtime metal fan, but the music is delivered with such enthusiasm and ferocity that you'll want to start a circle pit about three seconds into the first song. And while you're moshing it up, be sure to take a peek at the CD booklet, so you can enjoy the hilarious lyrics to songs like "Thrashin' of the Christ", "Guilty of Being Tight", "Terror Shark", and "The Thing", a tribute to the John Carpenter film.

The whole package is topped off with a cover painted by Ed Repka, who contributed cover art to such classic albums as Peace Sells...But Who's Buying and Leprosy. And while Hazardous Mutation may not be quite as good as those albums, it can certainly hold its own against many of the classics. Municipal Waste may not be the most original band in the world, but if you're still trying to recover from the trauma of listening to the new Nuclear Assault album, they're a dream come true.