What Thrust does on "Fist Held High" sounds awesome in theory: the style and structure of Judas Priest driven marginally by the tenacity of speed/thrash metal bands in the vein of Exciter. Fascinatingly, the album completely lacks riffs with any bite, though the flairs of Priest and the slight speed metal influence color up the forgettable sequences to an extent. Another huge thing bogging down on this is the songwriting, which is utterly abysmal. Thrust mastered early on the art of repeating choruses over and over and over and over again-choruses that are pretty lame to begin with, mind you-without a sense of poise. These tracks manage to drone on for a few minutes, throwing out powerless Priest-driven riffs that are straightforward and harmless, while Thrust goes through the motions. Despite its appearance, this is not exciting stuff.

The vocals are what deserve a rotten tomato to the face more than anything else. You know, as a heavy metal fan, you sort of get used to singers who suck but make sense in context-take Dave Mustaine's work in classic Megadeth. These vocals, though, are absolutely insufferable. The dude here does this pseudo-falsetto thing that sounds like a speed metal vocalist gargling razor blades. His lower vocals remind me vaguely of King Diamond's, and they actually sound all right, but he mostly sticks to his Muppet mating call. Things get a little adventurous on "Freedom Fighters," but the eight-minute running time is wasted on repetition and the sheer lack of quality riffs and structures causing "Fist Held High" to sink. A valiant effort to branch out, but still no cigar.