Iron Reagan: Crossover Ministry ALBUM REVIEW

Iron Reagan continue to keep the flame of crossover thrash burning on this new LP. To listen to this album is to listen to thirty minutes of fast, glorious and straightforward fury. Sometimes it feels good just to shout.

★★★★☆

Crossover thrash: the fusion of hardcore punk and thrash metal. Some might argue that the glory days of this genre lie in the past, in the 80s and 90s, but Iron Reagan beg to differ. In Crossover Ministry, their third studio album, they hold true to crossover orthodoxy and create an infectiously fun mix of thrash metal technical proficiency and rhythmic strength with serious punk attitude.

Take "Dead with My Friends" for example, the fourth track on the album. It kicks off with a doomy Sabbath-esque section before suddenly picking up tempo and launching into a punchy barrage of riffs. If that wasn’t enough, you still have a nice guitar solo to look forward to, and a conclusion which returns to the doomy style. Over all of this, the shouts of ‘sick of this world I wanna be dead with my friends!’. Iron Reagan can write fantastic songs. Technical proficiency and writing ability that could put headliners like Metallica to shame, combined with the punk fury of the lyricism, makes this music very powerful.

Critics of this album will say that, at thirty minutes, it is too short. Or that they are a one-dimensional band. Or that the quality can be inconsistent. These criticisms are all true, but do they matter? Thirty minutes is the perfect amount of time to maintain the kind of energy Iron Reagan are seeking to create. Songs like "Fuck the Neighbors", whilst musically less impressive, are often funny and add a touch of humour that prevents this album from being entirely depressing.

Iron Reagan fulfill a niche by keeping crossover thrash firmly on the map. As previously said, their blend of well composed thrash metal with punk attitude and lyricism makes for an highly enjoyable listening experience. However, this is not the end of the story. Iron Reagan is obviously a play on words with Ronald Reagan and Iron Maiden, and they are a somewhat political band. Political themes are woven very well into Iron Reagan’s lyricism and in these days of political instability, disconnection and dishonesty, it feels good to shout, and give the middle finger to the world, as Iron Reagan do.