Getting the Most Out of Your Extinction

As any fan of thrash metal can tell you, the late 80’s/early 90’s were not a profitable time for the genre. With death metal storming the underground and grunge/groove metal taking form in the mainstream, latecomers to the scene were ignored by both camps. Ironchrist were such a band, playing straightforward 80’s thrash when it was least fashionable. Getting the Most Out of Your Extinction is the only thing they ever got recorded before they bit the dust and it doesn’t take a close examination to see that these guys simply were not fated for success, though that’s rarely a good factor in determining an album’s true worth.

The main factor that inhibited Ironchrist was their late arrival on the scene, but there are a few other things that would have kept them down regardless. Most blatantly, they aren’t particularly original. Besides the guitars sporting a thick distortion more appropriate for death metal, there’s little to distinguish them from their end-of-the-decade peers. The songs are short and to the point (Hirax style; the average being around two and a half minutes) with only the slightest hints of underlying technicality. The guitarwork is above average (bass included) with pounding drum accompaniment. There’s a lot of twists and turns that are somewhat awkward, such as unexpected changes in pace and riffage through breaks, but the songs really aren’t long enough to establish a particular mood that needs to be adhered to, save a pure speed frenzy. Their vocalist couldn’t really stand out in a crowd either, while the lyrical content is similarly unspectacular. Basically, they’re your average thrashers, with a customary emphasis on good riffage and frantic speeds as well as a not-so-customary penchant for structural variety and humor.

But wait, didn’t this come out in 1990? That it did, and for an album of that year, the prospective listener should take note that the band’s sound is notably free from groove metal influences, as well as any hints of a hard rock album in their near future. Hell, there isn’t even that much tech thrash influence with the exception of some engaging riffage (that killer bass led intro sequence for “White Plague”), a subtle sense of melody (including some fucking outstanding harmony riffs), and the occasional clean riff (“Neurotica” and “Intermission” intros; “Cyborg” solo section). And don’t let my earlier insistence of their unoriginality stand too strongly as you listen to this, as there are a lot of good moments on here that are theirs alone. From the furious title track to intricate thrash-trumentals “Mechanized Emotions” and “Contusions” to mosh-happy numbers like “Equilibrium” and “World War Three,” the listener is in for one hell of a good ride, especially potent considering its brevity.

So although this album was certainly forgotten in the overpowering sea of late-period thrash releases, it didn’t exactly deserve to be. Had it sported a better production and an earlier release date, this might have been a cult classic. And who knows, it may be yet.