Heritage Thrash
Album Review: To The Detested by Extinction A.D.
CONTIBUTING AUTHOR Ginny
Extinction A.D., a thrash metal foursome from New York City, released their 4th studio album on August 16th titled “To The Detested”. With 10 songs that each pack a heavy punch, the album brings a fierce energy to each track.
The track “Desperate Grasp” kicks off the album with all the telltales of a proper thrash metal song: a quick pace, heavy guitar, and a singer amped with aggression. Near the end of the track, a breakdown highlights the technical abilities of the guitarist in a heated feature that sits atop the rest of the instrumentals. However, the most notable aspect of the song might be the final line, “Goodnight trash.”
The second track, “Escape From New York” is relatively similar to the first track, containing those essential elements of thrash metal and relying heavily on them. This song mimics the track before it with a heavy, aggression-filled intro, an intense vocal-oriented middle, and tossing listeners a lead guitar feature near the end of the song. Again, the song does a good job highlighting the technical ability of the musicians; however, nothing in particular stands out about this song for me.
A stand-out song on the album is “Burnt Sienna,” a track laced with Puerto Rican influences. Core member Rick Jimenez utilized his Puerto Rican heritage as a base for drawing inspiration for the song, wrestling with the part of his childhood that he shied away from. The track opens with a fast-paced drumbeat and almost chanting Spanish vocals. This Puerto Rican/Spanish intro continues for the first minute and a half of the song before transitioning back into a more traditional thrash metal sound. The essence of the Puerto Rican influences can be heard throughout the entire track, including a recall of the same chanting lyrics from the intro later on.
Extinction A.D. has done a good job curating a group of songs that highlights the technical abilities of each of the members. However, I find that many of the songs feel like one step to the left or right of the tracks around them, teetering on the edge of being repetitive. As a listener, I find myself wishing the group showcased their talent with more of the emotion and edge that “Burnt Sienna” contained throughout the rest of the album. As for other listeners, many thrash metal lovers will have found another group of tracks to potentially add to their daily drive playlists; as for myself, I’ll be interested to see if and how Extinction A.D. continues to push their sound into new branches of the thrash metal subgenre.
