It’s been ten long years since we last heard from PYREXIA, and a like an angry grizzly bear awakened from its slumber, the New York death machine is back with a vengeance. “The Wicked Rise” quickly opens things up and set the pace to follow with the band blasting away with renewed vigor and enthusiasm throughout the album. All ten tracks on Age of the Wicked operate on the same level - short-and-to-the-point, hard-hitting punchy death metal with aggressive picking, pounding drumming and furious, snarling vocals that efficiently drive it home. Let’s face it, PYREXIA aren’t exactly rewriting the death metal handbook here, but what they bring to the table is an honest no-frills no-bull approach to the songs, giving the album the strength that most lesser, novice acts fail to deliver. With an average song length of just over two minutes, the band keeps the pace moving, but on all of the album’s tracks, the band always manages to settle in to crushing, mid-tempo grooves that add a lot of weight and gravity. It’s these thick sludgy sections that really anchor in the barrage, while at the same time delivering the album’s “hooks.” All in all a welcome comeback from these NY titans, and hopefully we won’t have to wait until 2017 for their next onslaught. (Unique Leader Records)