Album Review: Misfire - "Product of the Environment"

 

A little more than three years ago, we wrote about how Misfire, on the heels of their debut full-length “Sympathy for the Ignorant,” had risen from the shadows of the defunct Diamond Plate and was poised to succeed the unfortunate Power Trip as the vanguard of thrash in America.

There was a caveat to the band’s assumed dominance though.  It rested on the principle that Diamond Plate matured for their second album, and that if Misfire hoped to hold thrash’s crown, they would have to do the same, and smooth out some of the misgivings of their debut effort.

Now, there’s a caveat to the caveat - Misfire comes armed with a new vocalist in Tim Jensen, and as such the entire color the band has been altered, at least in a small way.  Which is all a needlessly long introduction to the band’s sophomore album “Product of the Environment,” and a complicated way to say that there’s a lot of layers to this onion.

We’re going to jump to the conclusion and work backwards - “Product of the Environment” certainly smooths out some of the rough edges of “Sympathy for the Ignorant,” but not always in a positive way.  The entire experience has been streamlined and hammered into sheets, which makes for an evenly consistent delivery, but not always an exciting one.  This new record is something of a thrash assembly line - eleven variants of verse, chorus, verse, chorus, solo, chorus.

That doesn’t mean that aren’t great moments.  The single “We Went Through Hell” is a personal tale, the kind of yarn that every listener can listen to and empathize with, as we’ve all been through some similar personal hell (so much so that I just used ‘yarn’ in a sentence.)  Plus, the riff is characteristic of some of the great thrash-y riffs of days gone by, in that it leaves room between the notes and phrases, letting the song breathe, rather than just throwing every rock at the window and seeing which one breaks through.

Skip all the way down to “Privacy,” and this is one of those songs were the crunchy guitar tone pays off in that old-school Megadeth way, as Tim Jensen, who even according to the band’s own press occasionally tells stories like Dave Mustaine, does just that, completing a construction that reminds of the way thrash was during its best days some forty years ago.  It’s great, and the singalong chorus even smacks a little of GWAR-style punk styling.

There are other fun parts that pop up here and there.  “Born to Die” has a great, head-nodding breakdown at the end, “End of an Age” has a cool staccato riff that bridges to the outro, and there are skillful and enjoyable solos from Kostadin Kostadinov from several other guests throughout the record.  

Still…there’s something missing here.  “Product of the Environment” has the blueprint of a thrash classic, but it’s as though the band followed the directions of the blueprint to the letter and didn’t add any flourishes.  There’s nothing here that makes one say “wow, this is Misfire!”  The album does a great job of replicating thrash from its halcyon days, making the listener remember Exodus or Slayer or Anthrax, but doesn’t draw attention back to itself once that initial job is done.

What we’re left with is an enjoyable, perfectly good thrash record from talented and experienced musicians.  It could have been great, though.  Did Misfire mature from their debut album?  Yes, this effort is a more professional, consistent experience.  It lost some of its youthful exuberance along the way, though.