N.W.77 (short for: NUCLEAR WEAPON 77) from Brazil really did me a great favour with their first two offerings, the EPs ”Doomsday Countdown” and “Youth Explosion”. I just loved their fresh Crossover of Thrash Metal and Hardcore, the school of 1987. So I was really excited to hear their first full length album, which is now available through the underground company Rotthenness. N.W.77 chose, pretty fittingly, “Nuclear Awake” as the name of their first “big” baby. And Brasilias Crossover heroes don’t stray from their course, even though “Nuclear Awake” takes the same evolution most of the old school Crossover heroes took in the late 1980s, since they added a little more Metal. But just a very little bit, especially in the sound and the production. After a spoken word intro, the beginning of ‘Charles Bronson Jr’ sends “Best Wishes” from that legendary CRO-MAGS album. And ‘Hannemania’ is not that SLAYERish, but SUICIDAL instead. A short rude song (pretty obligatory, huh?) is up next with ‘N.A.G.A.C.A.’ that is the one to be more SLAYERish, at least in the beginning… The ‘Worldwide Death’ brings the New York vibe while ‘Mad Driver’ is a rather grooving song for the moshpits of the world. And this ain’t the end of fun, the whole album keeps up a high standard based on the spirit of ’87, spiced with a little Thrash Metal. And there are some more tracks that stand out a little bit as well. ‘Terror Tecnológico (T.V.Y.K.)’ has some pretty cool shout-alongs – anybody can do singalongs, but this is old school Crossover, ya know? The very fine and pretty metalized ‘One Step Behind’ deserves a special mention and the stop-and-go Thrasher ‘Bleeding Eyes’, too, for it somehow has the rhythm and spirit of the mighty BEYOND POSSESSION. After the final double feature of ‘The End Incomplete’ and ‘The End Is Complete’ it’s time to go back to present times again or take another throwback into the original Crossover. I’d prefer the latter, since “Nuclear Awake” is an album that wets the appetite for more. Yes, Marcel Ianuck and his bros in N.W.77 did what they’re best at: doing me a great favour again. Do yourself a favour, too, and check “Nuclear Awake” and the other stuff of the band at: www.ianuck.net/nw77, www.facebook.com/nw77music or nw77.bandcamp.com. For the label, visit: www.rotthenness.com