UMUR
"Crossover Ministry" is the 3rd full-length studio album by US crossover thrash metal act Iron Reagan. The album was released through Relapse Records in February 2017. It´s the successor to "The Tyranny of Will" from 2014. There have been no lineup changes on "Crossover Ministry" since the predecessor. Iron Reagan was formed in 2012 as a side-project by members of Municipal Waste and Darkest Hour and released their debut full-length studio album "Worse than Dead" in 2013.
Stylistically the material on the 18 track, 28:48 minutes long album more or less continues the crossover thrash metal style of the predecessor. The tracks balance the hardcore punk side of the band´s sound with the thrash metal side, but that´s no different from the musical style on the previous releases. The tracks are generally short, to the point, aggressive songs with politically motivated lyrics about society, political corruption, and violence, and Iron Reagan are generally a pretty angry bunch, pissed about the state of the world. The musicianship is overall strong and lead vocalist Tony Foresta has a suiting raw and aggressive delivery.
The material is well written for the style, but nothing out of the ordinary, and a more personal sound would have elevated the album to a higher level. The tracks are also slightly one-dimensional in nature, and it´s a blast when Mike Muir from Suicidal Tendencies suddenly appears on "Megachurch" as a guest vocalist, because it adds a bit of variation to the album. Overall "Crossover Ministry" is pretty entertaining while it plays, but soon forgotten after it is finished. So upon conclusion it´s a well produced, well played, and relatively well written album, but it´s also pretty generic and even though it´s only 28:48 minutes long, the album actually feels longer, and that´s seldom a good sign. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.