The Solid State Records roster has become well known for finding some of the best talent in hardcore heavy metal music, such as Demon Hunter and Living Sacrifice. In some areas of the world, several less than fortunate Christian bands have fallen below the radar in the genre. The thrash metal powerhouse Ultimatum are among the few groups and have returned with their third studio release called The Mechanics of Perilous Times, the first from the group since their 1998 album Puppet of Destruction. Often compared to other thrash groups such as Exodus, Megadeth, and Pantera, Ultimatum offered an intense heavy metal performance that was rarely seen in Christian music.

The lyrics on this album are in poor taste due to Scott Waters' lack of creativity on several tracks such as "Greed Regime, Inc," "Get what you can get while the getting's gotten good, Command you god machine today, Your greed's are understood, Believe you shall, in faith I put my trust, Cosmic genie in the sky, it's riches that I lust, Faith.Greed.Lust.Lies, Greed Regime, it wants you now, it promises you gold, It calls you in, if you'll sell your soul." Scott's interesting high-pitched screaming voice does not help much, but he makes up for these poorly written songs with liner notes explaining each one with scripture to back them up. For example, in the liner notes to "Greed Regime, Inc.," Scott states the following words, "God does not need your money nor is he your personal genie. God's provisions are not based on what you give because what He wants is you!"

Guitarists Robert Gutierrez and Steve Trujillo bring a good performance to "The Mechanics," which comes across as far more brutal and intense when compared to Michael Sweet and Oz Fox of Christian metal pioneers Stryper. The cover version of "Burn," a classic tune originally performed by the Christian thrash metal forefathers Vengeance Rising, adds a little fun and excitement for fans of the genre. "MutaMitlu" is an instrumental track with more of a melodic Metallica-style approach; think of "Fade To Black" or "The Unforgiven," that completely brings the album to a screeching halt. The song quickly kicks into gear after one minute with a fast speed metal approach that is difficult not to rock out to. Unexpectedly, the albums ends with "Violence & Bloodshed," a straightforward metal song about speaking the language of the culture, hardcore thrash metal in this case, in order to reach the world for Jesus Christ.

The primary downfalls of The Mechanics of Perilous Times are low production values and song lyrics. Most tracks run within the 5-minute, sometimes 7-minute, timeframe and there will be times that the listener will want Ultimatum to wrap things up. As an independent metal band from Albuquerque, New Mexico, Ultimatum offers a fairly decent performance but there is just not much to enjoy for the average heavy metal fan. The Holy Spirit fuels the band and they are pointing listeners in the right direction, but Ultimatum needs to "re-think" their music approach. Not to say that Ultimatum is a horrible band, but The Mechanics... pales in comparison to other thrash metal releases such as The Showdown's Back Breaker album. Not bad at all, but also not superb.