Misfire is an upcoming band with an album and an EP under their belt before their new album, Product of the Environment. The debut album in 2021, Sympathy for the Ignorant, is a pretty good debut album. Thrash with blast beats, kinda like Warbringer and others. The production was good, but nothing prepared me for Product of the Environment! Apparently garnering the attention of others as well and as Exodus, as Misfire just toured with them and Havok.

Product of the Environment is a 12-song 40+ minute thrash album and after opening with a short acoustic intro, “Borrowed Time”, “Day to Day”, continues that acoustic trend, as the song does not immediately erupt with the metal, which is a bit odd. Once the music hits, we are immediately hit with a pretty big Exodus-inspired sound. Think Tempo of the Damned style Exodus. The production on this is stellar. Blowing away their debut. Very crisp and with all the gang vocals, the band has all the signature thrash moments down. After thrashing along for a bit, the song slows down, then, as I predicted, goes right into a galloping speed with the guitar solo simultaneously joining in on the fray. Tim Jensen, the new band member on vocals and acoustic guitar, does an outstanding and aggressive job on vocals. This opening song is a lot of fun!

“Living the Dream” has a great opening, especially with that thumping bass guitar, courtesy of Dan Stapinski. The isolated moments where the guitar drowns out and it’s just drums, vocals, and bass are a good time to hear that crisp production truly shine. This is a slower, riff-driven tune. Lots of crunch with a lot of song title shouted vocals. Very catchy, and kudos to James Nicademus, who has an absolutely beastly sounding snare drum sound. I cannot imagine this catchy number not in their live set. This is a pit-pleasing, headbanging groove stomper. Come to think of it, I should YouTube this tune to see if there is a live version of it and what the crowd is doing during it.

“End of an Age” opens with a Slayer riff, lifted directly off Seasons in the Abyss. The fast opening moment sounds like an homage to “War Ensemble”. The song moves and thrashes, then slows down then gets right into the thrash speed. Konstadin Kostadinov does great work on guitar, killer riffs, yet another newcomer to the band. Hey, if it wasn’t for drummer James Nicademus enlisting all these new bucks, there would be no Misfire. This song must be in their live set, as does the title track, which actually ends the album. This song moves and is really going for the Exodus vibe. Excellent guitar riff, and it’s so catchy. The song slows down, then gallops right back into the thrash attack. With the album opening with that short acoustic intro, it’s a pleasant surprise to hear the album ender go right for the thrash jugular. Terrific song with the rhythm section shining on the gallops and guitar harmonies too. This is the best song on the album, and saving it to end the album is a memorable and smart decision.

Product of the Environment is a lot of fun and a quality thrash metal album. Is it original?-not in the slightest. Pulling from bands like Exodus, Slayer, and, at times a little Municipal Waste. So when an album is not original, I look for catchiness, and can I latch onto the riffs and songs, and this album has that all over the place. I’d rather listen to an album lacking somewhat in originality, but is highly memorable, than some avant-garde sounding super original band with not one thing I can remember from it. I am looking forward to future albums by Misfire and am expecting them to garner a lot more attention, especially since this big Exodus tour they just finished.

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