Who's ready for something unique? When I first listened to PERSECUTORY's latest release, "Towards the Ultimate Extinction", I thought to myself, these guys sound like a Black Metal band went Thrash. Sure enough, The Metal Archives list them as Black/Thrash metal. Now there's something you don't see every day, or...ever. But the strangest thing about it is it actually works pretty well, provided you like Black Metal. The album is without out a doubt driven by the strong vocal deliveries of Tyrannic Profanator (which is one of the most metal names I have ever heard, by the way). But, if you pull back the album's layers of "fuck God," "who wants to slay a goat," and purposefully gritty production value, you do find some interesting songwriting and cool guitar work.

The first track off the album, "Pillars of Dismay", wastes no time diving right into the music. No fluffy intro tracks, no instrumental segues, just an immediate blast of Metal that'll knock you on your ass, for better or for worse. I personally am not a fan of that approach with an album, but for all the old school Metal Heads out there who miss the days of fighting the establishment and not giving a shit about what the status quo thinks, you'll love how this album kicks off. While the bulk of the song is nothing special (and nothing bad), the last 1:45 kicks into overdrive oh-my-god mode. Some of the coolest vocal work I have EVER heard, the screams from Profanator will give you chills, as well as an amazing rhythm guitar and drum fueled Doom Metal sounding riff work. I'm a big fan of the back half of this track, I would highly, highly recommend giving it a listen if nothing else.

The title track, "Towards the Ultimate Extinction", is the second of the album and it is a bit longer. Coming in at 11 1/2 minutes, the song ultimately lacks structure and direction, but if you're a Black Metal aficionado, that is exactly what you're looking for. A lot of people will love it, a lot more people will not. Whatever works for your personal taste, baby.

The middle 4 tracks of the album, unfortunately, break into derivative monotony. PERSECUTORY has found their sound, they are writing the songs they want to write, and to their credit for what they want to do it sounds really cool, but it starts to get repetitive and predictable. As a young band, I'll look for them to elevate their sound to find a way to have every track NOT just be hyper fast drums, thrashy guitars, and "AHHHHHHHHHH" vocals for 6 minutes. However, the lyrical work is pretty fantastic, and the song titles are awesome. Speaking of...

"Maelstroms of Antireligious Chaos" is possible the most Metal song title I have ever heard, it's the last track on the album, and it might also be the best. For those who don't know, maelstroms are essentially whirlpools that occur out at sea, with tales of massive fantasy sized ones sinking ships. However real gigantic maelstroms are (or not), that song title is probably the most accurate description I've seen of what makes Black Metal, Black Metal. I love it; it's fantastic, and I hope PERSECUTORY keeps it up. The song itself ultimately feels like a summation of what the entire album is, you have quick drums, Thrash lead guitar, slow and pounding rhythm guitar, fast and lyrically heavy lead vocals, and long droning Black Metal screeching vocals. I like to see a young band close an album with a song that wraps everything up; it gives a feeling of completion and shows maturity in songwriting.

Overall, this album isn't half bad, as long as you have an ear for Black Metal. The Thrash elements do make it a bit more accessible to the average listener, but only a bit. If you go into it expecting lots of heavy, lots of religion hatred, and lots of black drama, you're in for a great time. It's a reasonably well-done album from a young Black/Thrash Metal band trying to find their way in the universe.<