Interview

Extinction A.D. Warns Of A "Culture Of Violence"

Crossover thrash is a term which can be easily applied to some bands, but it's still perhaps a bit of a loose term. After all, thrash metal itself was inspired by hardcore punk to begin with, so to try and label a portion of it as being more hardcore influenced is perhaps a little strange. Nonetheless, it's a fond tag and one that assures the listener of what they're in for. It may have reached it's zenith with bands like Suicidal Tendencies and Cryptic Slaughter, but the sub-genre is still going strong today, with one of the strongest examples being Long Island's, Extinction A.D.

Having been formed by members of This Is Hell last decade, Extinction A.D. released their first EP, "Plague Prophecy" (a somewhat eerie title in the modern world) in 2014, with their debut full length, "Faithkiller" following the next year. While their next album, "Decimation Treaty" would hit the shelves in 2018, the group were always hard at work on material and looking well past the next album, honing their craft and becoming one of the hardest working bands in the game.

Perhaps it's easy to forget just how hard some bands do work, but when catching up with frontman Ricky Jimenez to discuss their latest opus, "Culture Of Violence," it became very clear, very fast, just how diligent the quartet are. "Culture Of Violence" is out now and after reading (or watching) the story of how it came to be, you'll surely want to give it a spin yourself.

Diamond Oz: The new album, "Culture Of Violence" is out now. What can you tell me about the title of the album?

Rick Jimenez: The title of the album was almost the last thing that we settled on. The only thing done after the title was the artwork, which was a result of the title. It was the last song that we wrote lyrically. It kind of ties in everything the band has always spoken about, especially on this album and over the last couple of years. Everything's been crazy. We've all lived through kind of the same stuff, we just have different perspectives on it.

It was almost by the time the final song was being written, instead of focusing on one specific occurence or my reaction to one specific topic, it was like a summation of everything the band and the album had been about. By the time I had that in my mind that was the direction I was going lyrically, the song kind of wrote itself and the first line in the song, "Unending culture of violence...", that's what we've been living in for thousands of years.

I should maybe only speak for my own existence, that's forty one years. "How is everything resolved?" A power play that results in violence, whether that's physical, mental or otherwise. Then, you know, I don't want to say "simplify" things but you write things in, I guess in my style, a pseudo philosophical way, maybe sometimes in a hip hop approach to a metal album. We had a different album for probably about two years, but once that song was written, everybody was just like, "Yo, that's cool," so that's the way that we went.

Read more...  |  0 Comments - Discuss