6/10

When thrash-punk duo Slaves released their debut album 'Are You Satisfied?' in the middle of last year, it provided a much needed shot of adrenaline to the contemporary music scene and showed that there was space for louder and more aggressive bands to build a national following. But almost as quickly as promotion for that record halted, we were introduced to another one in the form of 'Take Control', although this time around it seems to lack the bite of their debut.

What was memorable about 'Are You Satisfied?' was the snarly social commentary that ran throughout the album. Constantly questioning and mocking British life became their mantra, but this record seems to have done away with that in favour of slogan-based protest tracks like 'Take Control' and 'Rich Man'. But the main appeal of this release seems to be the inclusion of the Beastie Boys' Mike D on production, who has managed to give it a more refined punk sound and help develop the band's overall style.

In a sense, 'Take Control' has lost appeal in some places but gained in others. They have improved themselves musically but seem to have left a lot of the venom out of their demeanour, essentially giving up the edge that made them so appealing in the first place.