Outburst is a Dutch thrash metalband that has been around for quite a long time, but until now has only ever released two demos and one EP, ¡¥Overfiend¡¦, in 2003. After that it was trouble, backlash, looking for a record company to release their proper album, finding one after a long, long time (Black Lotus), seeing that label go broke only months after signing, then some time of thinking and then the decision to release their long awaited debut album ¡¥Fair And Balanced¡¦ by themselves. Well, long awaited¡K At least I waited for a long time, since their ¡¥Overfiend¡¦ EP showed a lot of promise for a full length album. So then, the question that will be answered after four/five paragraphs: Does ¡¥Fair And Balanced¡¦ live up to my expectations, thus: is it a good album?

The record¡¦s jump off is one of violence and sick speed. A two minute and five seconds instrumental blast. Very effective too, because it basically has about 1.5 riffs, plus a fast solo added to it in the end. An awesome way to start a thrash metal album. This one, ¡¥220¡¦ evolves naturally into ¡¥Freddy¡¦s Song¡¦, in which we are introduced to a more balanced Outburst. There are screams or grunts in parts around the recurring catchy (not in a bad way) chorus and that chorus is sung with clean vocals. These various voice types are very well combined -although the clean vocals can be a bit shaky- and also work well with the instrumentation: low riffs, pretty straight forward, but good drums and well, you know, the bass too. I guess.
Song three almost starts as a power metal song, in that it is very melodic and catchy. It features the three types of vocals again and another chorus with clean singing. Now, in something like metalcore I find that mostly incredibly stupid, but in this thrash, it is quite all right, because it keeps one from growing a headache as a result of the unrelenting speed. Song four, ¡¥The Beast Will Strike Again¡¦ (yeah, whatever) is a more of a filler type song. In that I do not mean it¡¦s bad, I mean that songs like this need to be on the album, but you won¡¦t remember ¡¥Fair And Balanced¡¦ by it. Song five then, a great one in case of riffage, but with these types of riffs, a lower grunted Lamb Of God-type vocals would be more in place, but well, it¡¦s thrash, so that you will not hear. The drums and guitars are awesome in this one though, and compensate.
We reach the halfway point with the signature slower song (or so it seems), to keep your ears from bleeding. After two minutes of nice, inventive riffs and double-kick drums all of a sudden there¡¦s a break and you know what¡¦s coming next: violence and anger.

This anger and violence is not that new or original, and unluckily, the fast pace goes on for the entire rest of the song and there aren¡¦t many notable changes in the instrumentation during those four minutes, which makes the whole tedious and headache invoking. This unrelenting fast pace is held throughout ¡¥From Hell¡¦, song seven; a forgettable one, only the beautiful break and slow part afterwards in the middle are worthwhile. ¡¥The End¡¦, which is actually three ticks away from it, is one of the best songs on the album and reinstates my faith: great riffs, good changes of pace, decent vocals and that most surprising part of the entire album. Said part is a well-put proggy bit, with a lot of feeling and even groove. In thrash metal! You don¡¦t here that often, or enough, but it is well built into the whole in this song.
¡¥My Own Hell¡¦ after that one is one to just let pass as it is just a typical thrash metal, high speed song. Number ten then, is one from their EP of 2003. Normally that would be a bad idea, but ¡¥Attack Of The Overfiend¡¦ is decent enough. The title track, predictably called ¡¥Fair And Balanced¡¦ is a simple, yet efficient, single riff two minute instrumental, with a voice over track, presumably from some movie. The voice over sounds quite cool, and I wish they could¡¦ve done something like it on three instances throughout the CD: the start, the middle and the end. It would be better balanced that way.

Now, the moment you have all been waiting for: THE CONCLUSION! Indeed, cause for applause„¦ (I¡¦m copyrighting that one). Here goes: Outburst have delivered a decent album with ¡¥Fair And Balanced¡¦. In nearly every song there are moments of greatness, which you¡¦ll remember, and which warrant the 7 out of 10 I give this album. However, some of the song structuring is at times quite poor. Also, about half of the fast parts were not imaginative, but more so, formulaic. Then again, Slayer does that too, and gets away with it. Another complaint are the vocals, which can be pretty tiresome here and there, but the band does know when to let their instruments do the talking, so this is a problem that can be overlooked.
The final thought regarding this album thus must be: ¡¥Fair And Balanced¡¦ is at times standard thrash metal fare, but has enough brilliance and great riffs on it to make the balance lean towards good.