EP REVIEW: Extinguish – Extinguish

The union between death metal and hardcore has been a long and fruitful one at this point. In recent years, plenty of bands have mined the middle ground between the two genres to invariably crushing results. There’s XIBALBA, GOD’S HATE, HANDS OF GOD, SUNAMI… the list goes on. Now, if you like any of those bands, you can almost certainly add EXTINGUISH to that list. By their own admission, the Sacramento-based five-piece’s approach is decidedly “no-frills”. Rather than mess with the formula, their self-titled debut EP leans heavily into the established tricks of the trade. The results aren’t particularly clever or complicated, but they are big, beefy and angry as hell.

The record starts as it means to go on with Final Sin. Here, the band flit between stompy death metal riffing and a firmly 90s-inspired hardcore chug. All of it is gut-punchingly heavy, and that’s exactly where things stay over the five tracks that follow. Vocalist Ian Bouchard employs a pretty straight hardcore bark throughout, while the band behind him provide pummelling breakdown after pummelling breakdown. The production captures all this perfectly, maintaining a raw and gritty feel, while never being any less than crisp and crushing. There’s even a somewhat cavernous quality to it, providing another nod to the band’s old school death metal influences.

EXTINGUISH‘s aggressive musical approach lines up nicely with their general sense of anger at the world. Over the record’s six tracks, they take aim at corruption, the police, politicians and more. While Bouchard‘s lyrics can be hard to discern at points, there’s never any question he and the band are downright furious.

Of course it’s fair to say some will probably want a little more variation than EXTINGUISH manage here. At the same time though, it’s hard to fault the standard of what is on offer. Every track on the record boasts plenty to bang your head to, and is certain to go down even better in a live setting. 

With the band essentially doing one thing for its entire runtime, it is hard to pick out individual highlights on Extinguish. Closing track The Judge feels like it deserves a special mention though. This one’s the longest song on the record, and is especially violent and raging – even by EXTINGUISH’s standards. After two minutes of the usual fare, Bouchard cries “Time to pay the fucking price/I’m the judge, here to take your life” before the band kick into an absolute sledgehammer of a final breakdown. The track then ends on an unsettling piano part which hints at the fact that the band may have more tricks up their sleeves if given the chance to show them off on a full-length.

Laying aside those final moments of piano, the band don’t give their listeners a second to breathe on Extinguish. Instead, they show up, beat the crap out of you, and leave. The EP’s tight runtime of 16 minutes is definitely a good choice, as any longer would certainly require more variation. It’s also fair to say that it’s hardly the most original record you’ll hear in 2021. What it is however is a quarter of an hour of sheer violence that should satisfy anyone looking to expunge some feelings of rage or despair.

Rating: 7/10

Extinguish is set for release on April 23rd via Creator-Destructor Records.

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