It is a weighty and complex theme that the Danish-American hyperthrashers in TERMINALIST take up on their sophomore album, ‘The Crisis as Condition.’ Rooted in 1980s technical thrash metal, they update the socio-political criticism known from the genre’s heyday in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s—a time that was also characterized by political upheaval, yet marked by a belief in better times ahead.
On ‘The Crisis as Condition,’ this worldview is turned inside out. The optimism of earlier times and faith in progress have been replaced by a bleak and pessimistic realism. Transformation turns to turmoil; the state of emergency is the new normal. Crisis has become a condition.
This is expressed through hard-hitting and dynamic music rich in detail that has its basis in thrash metal, but which draws parallels to progressive metal and black metal with its intricate rhythms and ambitious songwriting.
Just as on their debut album, TERMINALIST has teamed up with producer Lasse Ballade. ‘The Crisis as Condition’ was recorded and mixed at Ballade Studios in Copenhagen and mastered by V. Santura (Triptykon, Dark Fortress) at Woodshed Studios in Germany, while the British painter Ryan T. Hancock is once again responsible for the unique artwork.