REVIEW: Haggus - Destination Extinction

As an introduction to mincecore, Haggus’ fourth album and first studio release Destination Extinction is akin to walking into a Rocky Horror Picture Show showing through the back door. Their sound is full frontal and unashamedly chaotic, with enough true-metal tempos and chord progressions to mark it as the Haggus touch to an admittedly niche subgenre. 

Album opener ‘Rotting Off’ is great for easing the listener into the audio experience of Destination Extinction: a slower tempo than the rest of the tracks on the project at its beginning with a satisfying “weewoo” for a vocal introduction, it builds in pace and heaviness as the pitch shifted vocals kick in. Its follow up ‘Bound by the Realms of Cruelty’ is the first true indicator of what's to come on Destination Extinction, introduced by a traditional metal solo by Strinx player Hambone (their words not ours), the track is made up of voice-box-mixed guttural growls responded to with devilish wailing, broken only by more strinx solos. 

What strikes the ears as Destination Extinction gets going is how much the soundscape sounds like 70s and 80s metal bands when the vocals are removed from the equation. The ever moving tempo and melodic riffs manage to remind of Motorhead somehow, while entry three ‘What’s F**king Left’ - apart from being amusingly blunt title - features some of the best guitar work of the project including a seamlessly executed stop and start bass guitar into main chord progression balanced with the wails and guttural screams being fed to the pitch shifter. The track is bouncy and forward driven, fading into 'Lobotomised Compliance' with a long guitar note that keeps the momentum as the midpoint of Destination Extinction draws closer. 

On the topic of the guitar work midpoint entry ‘Do You Love Mincecore’ has a mythical midpoint solo buried in its voicebox/wail call and response vocals, conjuring images of a basement show but played in the local tavern just before ye olde lock in. As for the drums, their highlight comes in ‘Repulsive Institution’, hitting up a sound more metalcore or hardcore inspired with a punk drumline punctuated by double bass riffs that transform into full double bass lines at the builds and solos. Atop these drum beats Hambone does his best guttural animal impressions into the pitch shifter; pitch shifted pig scream was a treat our ears didn’t know they needed.  

The main critique that comes from Destination Extinction is that, once the novelty of the pitch shifter wears off, the soundscape can feel two-dimentional, though each track does maintain its own signature. Whether it’s the hoppy melodies on ‘Crippled by Stupidity’ or the choice to use a live guitar of ‘As the Hammer Drops’ these signatures help break up the wall of sound that 'Rotting Off' could have suffered from becoming. Back on the positives - some of the track names on this project are the highlights, such as aforementioned ‘What’s F**king Left’ and ‘Crippled by Stupidity’ or penultimate track ‘Malignant Boomer’, which is satisfyingly the angriest of the 10 tracks on the project. 

Album closer ‘Grotesque Reflection’ works well in its placement as a mix of everything Haggus has served throughout the rest of Destination Extinction: the chaotic builds and stop-and-start instrumentals paired with delicious double bass rolls and verses made up of pitch shifted pig-squealed verses. 

Overall, Destination Extinction was chaos, as are many extreme metal subgenres, but it was captivating in a “what the hell was that” kind of way, and the technical skill is definitely present between the solos and the integration of the pitch shifter. Was it a little samey? Yes, but it is also interesting, so the standards on that can be lowered a little. Do we love mincecore? Actually, yes we think we do. 

Score: 8/10      

Destination Extinction was released on June 20th 2025.

Words: Julia Brunton

Photos: Haggus