What’s remarkable about Beyond Extinction is not that their average age is twenty. What is turning heads is that they’re twenty and making devastating death metal on par with the oldest artists in extreme music. Numerous outlets across the scene have all spoken highly of the four-piece deathcore/death metal group; Gig Radar claimed they were “a band that absolutely has the talent to make it to the very top of the British metal scene.” A lofty goal, to be sure, but here’s the thing: Beyond Extinction have the chops to make it all the way, if their second EP Nothing More Wretched is any indication.
Sibilant whispers drift up from depths unknown, and crystallize into one of the most fearsome vocal breaks to ever open an album: “Stare down at your ashes… and beg to die.” ‘Subjugator’. track two and the first traditional song on Nothing More Wretched, is designed and destined to be a show staple. It smashes anything in its path. Mosh pits will become at least fifty percent more dangerous when Jasper Harmer roars his challenge to the titans of metal.
“Beyond Extinction have the chops to make it all the way to the top of the extreme metal scene”
These are no brute animal growls, though. Harmer has the enunciation of a scene veteran and the energy of a young vocalist with everything to prove and nothing to lose. Backing him on guitars are Jude Bennett and Zack Scott, with Niall Ali on the kit. You couldn’t pry them apart with a titanium crowbar. Matt Williams’ production and mixing serves to let each instrument have room to bring its own style to the beatdown.
In every style of music, there are artists who write the same song and make a career out of doing so, to varying degrees of success and audience enjoyment. Beyond Extinction have already decided to write albums that may be listened to a dozen times without becoming stale. Their wisdom belies their years in the variety of song structures, sounds, and riffs they employ. From the furnace blast of ‘Subjugator’ to the rhythm and tempo changes à la Gojira of ‘Eyes of God Look Down Upon Me’ to the classic spacier closer ‘Plague Monarch’, this Essex demolition crew is smashing their way to the top of the pile. First they take the UK; then they take the world. Don’t get in their way, lest you find yourself staring down at your ashes, and begging to die. Beyond Extinction won’t even blink as they cut you down.