Cruel Discipline

Power trio BAT's 7" comprises only two songs, both of which are quite short -- but else would one expect from a group composed of members from D.R.I. and Municipal Waste? And for $7.77, it's not like one is coughing up a whole lot for these two raw little songs. What you get for your seven bucks is crossover thrash that owes about as much to Discharge as it does to Venom. Both songs are pretty similar -- abrasive, heavy, and very much a tribute to early 80s thrash metal and punk. Cruel Discipline has more guitar soloing and less of the straightforward headbanging aggressiveness of the other track, Rule of the Beast, but both feature bassist/vocalist Ryan Waste doing his best Cronos impression and a high-speed tempo with repeating, traditional riffs. Overall they're good, but they're so short that it seems weird to get them on vinyl when they're right there for the grabbing on MP3. Is the vinyl offering for the serious collector? Or is crossover thrash best listened to on an audiophile's gold-plated sound system to fully appreciate? That seems inexplicable to me; most listeners who don't want to camp out by their record player might just want to buy the MP3 on Bandcamp and stick these two in their playlist. Bandcamp: http://hellsheadbangers.bandcamp.com/album/cruel-discipline.