Intro
Betraying The Archetype’s Terminate Damnation was one of the first Christian “death metal” albums I had ever listened to when it came out in 2005. The mixture of Jason Wisdom’s growls, solid theological lyrics and the classical guitar/piano reprieve partway through made it one of my favorite albums in the genre. Fast-forward to today where we have a new album called Children of the Great Extinction.
Review
The Artwork
BTA’s album art has always been great, being done by Dan Seagrave. This album is no exception (as you can see above).
The Story
This release seems to be a concept album centered around a sci-fi story of explorers lost on a planet far from home. The lyrics themselves, however, could hint at deeper theological meaning:
“This world was dead from the start” - The Dead World
“Twelve were selected, chosen for the journey” - The Lost Colony
“This world is hollow” - The Hollow
That being said, it’s possible that I’m simply reading into the lyrics, given the bands history and my personal beliefs; And while I’m not so boring as to think that Christians can’t create things that aren’t directly related to theology, it is certainly fun when hard sci-fi (which I love) can act as a metaphor for deeper things.
The Music
This album is a bit of a mixture of each of their previous albums. The Phantom Field and The Curse both harken back to Terminate Damnation. The Lost Colony and The Calling feel closer to their Dichotomy (2008) and Celestial Completion (2010) albums.
Highlights:
- The Calling (4)
- The Phantom Field (5)
- The Sacrament (10)
Rating
★★★