Terminalist – The Great Acceleration
Release Date: 7th May 2021
Label: Indisciplinarian
Pre-Order/Pre-Save
Genre: Hyperthrash, Blackened Thrash.
FFO: Skeletonwitch, Voivod, Vektor, Testament.
Review By: Paul Cairney
Terminalist are a Danish/American band who describe their debut album, The Great Acceleration, as ‘Hyperthrash’, fusing traditional thrash metal with both black and death metal influences. As a person who believes that there are only 4 genres of metal, I shall overlook this ‘new’ genre, for the resultant album is an impressive romp throughout its theme of the ‘the world in crisis and a planet in collapse being abandoned in favour of colonisation of space’.
With a running time just shy of 35 minutes, you would think that in being a hyperthrash album, The Great Acceleration wouldn’t hang about, but you would be wrong. With just 5 tracks on the album, there are 3 epics on here, with one of them being an absolute monster!
Throughout the album, there are Rotting Christ influenced drums, excellent death metal vocals, and enough crushing riffs to keep you interested. Album opener, Relentless Alteration rattles along with a high degree of metal intent, and this song doesn’t hang about as the shortest track on the album. It is followed by Terminal Dispatch which does nothing to add, nor detract from, the album opener. It merely leads onto what is, by a long way, the best song on the album.
The Invention of the Shipwreck is a tour-de-force, and if Hyperthrash exists, then this song should be the epitome of the made-up genre. Riffs explode as the band delivers a true epic. Featuring a superb false ending that leads into a vocal section that I have had stuck in my head for days…. ‘The invention of the ship, the invention of the shipwreck’, simple, effective and vocally addictive.
Alas, when one hits the highest of heights, the only way is down and whilst Estranged Reflection is a decent song, with a top-drawer guitar solo, it feels too short and with the ending just meandering into nothing, it leaves you with a disappointed tear in your eye.
Final song, Dromocacy, is the 2nd of the long songs, with a running time of over 9 minutes. Where The Invention of the Shipwreck extracts every bit of quality from it’s running time, Dromocacy feels at least 3 minutes too long and, once again, leaves you with a feeling of what-if.
As a debut album, The Great Acceleration tries its hardest to impress. With thoughtful lyrics supporting its concept (thank you for providing them in the promo material), it certainly doesn’t lack ambition. However, it is that ambition that ultimately holds the album back. That said, I will be checking out their previous EP and will await their second album with keen interest.
(3 / 5)
