Following by three years and 's collaboration by a matter of weeks, the EP offers the four completed songs from the 2008 sessions for , presented in rough mixes that nevertheless sound fairly finished. Like the 2008 LP, this EP -- released digitally in December 2011 with a physical edition appearing early in the new year -- hearkens back to the of the '80s, emphasizing ever-shifting suites of thrash instead of the heavy mock-boogie of the '90s or the piecemeal floundering of , and it doesn't feel like a revival as much as a return, an acknowledgment of the band's core strengths. While the breakneck bookends "Hate Train" and "Rebel of Babylon" command the most attention, any one of these cuts could have fit seamlessly on without diluting its impact. Taken as its own entity, is a potent shot of old-fashioned thrash. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine