All too easy is to talk a big game without having the capacity to follow through on such a proclamation. That is something that many bands throughout the vast underground of metal fall into without even realizing it with thrash metal being quite a common victim of such an unfortunate fate in my experience. Too often have I seen descriptors of many bands using terms that make one feel as though they’re stepping into the best work of the sound that has come around in years with only a handful coming even close to approaching to that boast. While I don’t know how Terminalist view their own material compared to others, labelling yourself as “hyperthrash” is something that can quickly become a bluster if you don’t know what you’re doing. For every step taken in this new album, Terminalist proves without a doubt that they know precisely what they’re throwing down.

A voracious work whose cover art and description match the music itself tremendously well, “The Crisis as Condition” stands as a monolith of intensity amongst much of the competition. Seven tracks across a runtime that falls seconds short of forty minutes, what Terminalist has crafted here for their second full-length album can’t be seen as anything less than the most compelling and worthwhile onslaught of speed and power that someone like me has experienced in far too long. Not since the likes of Wraith or Oxygen Destroyer have I come across a terrific work that brings forth the riffage, the power, the breakneck pacing, and the daring to go for something offbeat, even if it is ever so slightly, with everything coming together for a massively potent performance that has so much to offer once you realize there’s no escaping the global shockwaves of Terminalist’s offensive. “The Crisis as Condition” is armed with a clear science-fiction edge that pairs fantastically with the thrash metal that can often feel as though it’s taken more than a few pages from the world of death metal with the vocals especially bringing those influences to the light. As rich in detail as it is unrelenting in its fury, “The Crisis as Condition” is undeniably infectious once the opening melodies pave the way as the subsequent riffage that follows for the entirety of the record that’s just one part in a fantastic work that is a certifiably high point of thrash metal this year.

From the gripping opener to a 10-minute finale that is an absolute ripper at virtually every given turn, Terminalist has made a record that any fan of modern thrash needs to experience immediately. It has more than what a vast majority of contemporary acts are able to bring to the table with each and every minute of “The Crisis as Condition” showing us that this is a band driven to deliver thrash of the highest caliber with these seven tracks offering as one testament after another as to the validity of such uncompromising power.

LISTEN to “The Crisis as Condition” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Terminalist on Facebook here.