If you stirred the ashes in the desolate hearth that was the remnants of Altars of Grief and Subside, praying fervently, you might find a coal. One glistering ember. Northern Graves shoulders the yoke of despairing Prairie metal and trudges deeper into that gloaming night having metastasized from Doom to Black. Now a one-man show, the ruined love and all-consuming isolation that were the hallmarks of Altars remain on full display. Still strong vocal debt to Type O, Woods of Ypres. Promising.

I was NOT prepared for Trez's borderline spoken-word elegy opening this track. The same treacly, heavy, throbbing riffs that propelled the best tracks of The Exile are punctuated by a decidedly-funereal percussive assault from Casey- wait, shortly followed by a dirge?! I shouldn't be writing this live but I can't stop my fingers, or this slow and somber headbanging.

This EP is 100% Lorna going "Hey guys, I got a new toy- do you like it?"
I actually got into Deathcore *after* this EP and Pain Remains indelibly changed the landscape of the genre so I missed the hype in real time. Hearing Will be able to do "Hellfire" live, and do all the shit he did in studio? A game-changer.
Reading that he actually wanted to do more/ re-do the ending squeal/snort/insanity of the song tells you a lot about his drive for perfection.

Thudding, brutal, downtempo. Expertly channels the rage we all have felt at being betrayed or disappointed.

I had to buy this after a friend referred to Will Ramos as "a Demon" vocally. He was so right. At times the orchestral influences seem to dominate the music but, throughout, Ramos is a dynamic and impressive vocalist switching seemingly without effort from deep gutturals to high squeals. Stirring, disquieting, POWERFUL. A tour de force propelled by my favorite deathcore vocal work yet.

I've never heard such a catchy, overtly anti-Fascist bop as this opener. Nothing like an uptempo pop punk anthem about "fuck Nazis"! An absolute earworm.
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After a thousand listens, holy shit some of the best tracks are on the back half. "Northern Corner" is a superlative track.

My God. I stopped dead to listen to Adrift uninterrupted. This album is a triumph of melodeath mastery. Orchestral elements blend seamlessly with crushing brutality and unrelenting bleakness. Absolutely incredible.