Virginia crossover thrash-metal band Municipal Waste, are notorious for releasing short pieces of music since their formation in 2001, and have described their genre as being "party thrash". Their latest release through Nuclear Blast records, The Last Rager EP is no different, and just as hard hitting as some of their last material like their 2007 album The Art of Partying. Consisting of Tony Foresta on vocals, Ryan Waste doing backing vocals and guitars, Philip "Landphil" Hall playing bass and assisting in backup vocals, Dave Witte on drums, and Nick "Nikropolis" Poulos on guitar, this EP was a great addition to the band's discography.

Unlike studio albums like Slime and Punishment, The Fatal Feast, or their Garbage Pack EP, I feel that The Last Rager EPexcellently came together to form a concise, fast sound, whose central theme relied on driving fast cars, and partying. This is not to say that Municipal Waste's prior material was bad, because it's far from it, however I feel that the management and use of this central theme allowed this EP to sound more put together. Thus resulting in each track seamlessly rolling into one another.

The Last Rager EPbegan with the track "Wave of Death" which mostly consisted of instrumentals aside from the occasional gang vocals saying, "Wave of death" or "Woahohoh!". There was a pretty rad guitar solo about halfway through this song and similar solos are used throughout the EP like on the next song "Car-Nivore (Street Meat)", and the final track "The Last Rager". I thought "Wave of Death" was a nice instrumental introduction to this EP because it formed great groundwork to new listeners of the band. The song didn't go too hard, but it still showed off a ton of grit.

Quickly following in the footsteps of "Wave of Death" was the track "Car-Nivore (Street Meat)" which had a similar rhythm and musical pattern to "Wave of Death". This song's quick, choppy lyrics "Find the car/steal the keys/go for more" represent the desire for acceleration and for speed. The fragmentation of other lyrics like "My foots to the gas/And I'm only wanting more" show the pattern the lyrics formed, and that the narrator of this song is "controlled by something else." This was one of my favorite songs on the EP because of how effectively the song was at controlling and navigating the speed of the lyrics, with the fast-paced drum and guitar.

Halfway through this EP was "Rum for Your Life" which was set at a slightly slower pace than the rest of the tracks on this project, while it still maintained a great level of speed. A prevalent, and repetitive guitar riff, can be heard throughout this song. This eventually transferred into a sick solo that sounded like something out of Slayer's South of Heaven album. There wasn't a very diverse number of lyrics in this song, and I felt like the track ended before anything truly noteworthy was established.

Barreling after "Rum for Your Life" was the final track "The Last Rager" and included the most diverse and interesting guitar/vocal work. With everything combined together, the song painted a picture of the end of the world. Lyrics like "Can you survive the night?" and "Will you make it out alive?" question the listener's ability to party and be the "last rager". The desire to be the last one still raging and partying, fuels the listener to yell the lyrics along with Foresta, "I am the last rager" and "Beware, the last rager". The maniacal laugh given by Foresta as the song closed was absolutely excellent and helped maintain the crazy image of this party animal.

The Last Rager EPwas definitely something worth checking out, especially if you haven't listened to Municipal Waste before and enjoy metal music. Combined with the band's high-speed energy, and Foresta's unique vocals, the listener will instantly be hooked by the music and crave more. With it's runtime only at 10 minutes, what have you got to lose? Besides, the EP definitely earned its rating of 7.5 out of 10, so check it out whatever streaming platform you prefer.