Whereas prior RAPID recordings suggested more convenient subgenre categorization, here on Blackstar Oppression Regime is the attack ever so subtly more unique. There’s the urgency of hardcore punk, the hook-oriented propulsion of speed metal, and the spidery aura of old-wave black metal, but even then, that only tells half the RAPID story; some of the lead lines could come from classic deathrock, while the general hot-rockin’ that anchors everything is pure turn-of-the-‘80s heavy metal. Put together, especially with the power-trio’s charisma spilling over into everything, Blackstar Oppression Regime becomes a four-pronged attack of timeless metal anarchy.