#whitechapel — Public Fediverse posts

Some bands just know what they’re about right away. Australia’s blackened death metal band Complexant poise themselves as a rising star in the continent/country/island’s extreme metal ecosystem, storming the scene with “a sound defined by weight, darkness, and unrelenting intensity.” There’s little fanfare to Complexant’s promo around their debut full-length Apex: in so many words, they merely promise to kick as much ass as they can fit in a thirty-four-minute session. They’ve tormented their home country since 2022, but Apex aims to make Complexant a global menace. But can Apex raise Complexant to the cream of the blackened death crop?

That Apex is a debut isn’t too shocking. Complexant play a dense, modern-sounding brand of brutal death metal dusted with black metal vitriol and (slight) deathcore stank. Think Cordyceps—restless riffing, crushed production, murderous intent, etcetera—but with more human-sounding vocals and a willingness to let their boots off your neck from time to time. Apex is heavy, raw, and blunt, but Complexant’s greenness shows in some undercooked ideas and seriously ham-fisted moments. Clean vocals worm their way onto “No Angels Weep” and “Afterlife,” which aren’t nearly as vital as vocalist Dan Greigsy’s screams and tack on an unwanted Stone Sour butt rockiness to the latter track’s ending. Endings are another issue. Although it’s worth celebrating Complexant’s realization of the power of editing, “Heretical Supremacy” and “Critical Mass” both end before they’ve hit their stride. Add some clumsy lyricism—”Cyclops, you only see through one perspective.” (“Cyclops”), “My head is at critical mass. One more thought and my cranium will surely collapse.” (“Critical Mass”)—and Apex’s rawness sometimes doesn’t work to Complexant’s benefit.

But more often than not, Complexant uses Apex’s bluntness as a proper instrument of devastation. Under the oppressive fury of drummer Seb Su’s blast beats, guitarists Shannon Zivkovic and Gavin Bradley and bassist Chris Tuckley churn out seething, brutish riffs one after the other, underpinning Greigsy’s incensed performance across Apex. Songs like “Swing Myself to Sleep” and “Eye for an Eye” attack with a balanced approach of imposing, dissonant blackened chords and neanderthal death chugs, the former deploying some fucked up noodling bits in the bridge and the latter ending in seriously caustic heaviness. Complexant’s mix highlights Su’s drums, who complements the guitars with a similarly dynamic balance of concussive speed (“No Angels Weep,” “Apex”) and groove (“No Hope for Sanctuary,” “Eye for an Eye”) while littering just enough fills across Apex for good measure. Finally, Complexant utilize breakdowns conservatively and effectively to punctuate dramatic moments in their songs (“Swing Myself to Sleep,” “Cyclops”) rather than writing everything tailored to the breakdown. Apex is a thematically uncompromising record, and thus benefits from the unsophisticated sound Complexant bestows it.

Not to be cruel, but Apex sounds best to these ears when Complexant sound just miserable. Apex features some truly harrowing and uncomfortable lyrics, and these moments usually encompass Complexant’s best material. From the suicidal ideation of “Swing Myself to Sleep,” to the vengeful murder fantasies of “Eye for an Eye,” to the proclamations against life itself on “Afterlife,” Complexant don’t endear themselves to you with their sunny dispositions. When Greigsy screams, “Eye for an eye when you take a man’s life. You brought a weapon, a weapon to a fist fight,” (“Eye for an Eye”), you best believe the instrumentals rise to meet his vitriol. At times Apex reminds me of Whitechapel’s The Valley in both sound and in barefaced confessional lyricism, reaching its emotional zenith on closer and album highlight “No Hope for Sanctuary.” Relaying the speaker’s childhood home life, his early claim of how he “was raised by fucking vandals” is bolstered by scenes of harrowing domestic violence and abuse, offering up an apt metaphor of being trapped under debris for the unstable environment he came up in. Apex doesn’t reach greatness as a whole, but in these uncompromisingly bleak moments Complexant reach the mark.

I had a good time having a bad time with Apex. Proving further that everything from Australia wants to kill you, Complexant can bring the hurt with the best of them, and Apex is a more than adequate exercise in hostility. Even where songwriting faltered, Apex is still enjoyable through the simple joy of the disgusting riff. Now, if Complexant hone their songwriting further by the time they’re ready for album number two, we’ll have something truly worth watching. If for our own safety, at the least.

Rating: Good!
DR: 4 | Format Reviewed: ???1
Labels: Bleeding Art Collective and Blood Blast Distribution
Websites: complexant.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/complexantband
Releases Worldwide: July 31, 2026

Some bands just know what they’re about right away. Australia’s blackened death metal band Complexant poise themselves as a rising star in the continent/country/island’s extreme metal ecosystem, storming the scene with “a sound defined by weight, darkness, and unrelenting intensity.” There’s little fanfare to Complexant’s promo around their debut full-length Apex: in so many words, they merely promise to kick as much ass as they can fit in a thirty-four-minute session. They’ve tormented their home country since 2022, but Apex aims to make Complexant a global menace. But can Apex raise Complexant to the cream of the blackened death crop?

That Apex is a debut isn’t too shocking. Complexant play a dense, modern-sounding brand of brutal death metal dusted with black metal vitriol and (slight) deathcore stank. Think Cordyceps—restless riffing, crushed production, murderous intent, etcetera—but with more human-sounding vocals and a willingness to let their boots off your neck from time to time. Apex is heavy, raw, and blunt, but Complexant’s greenness shows in some undercooked ideas and seriously ham-fisted moments. Clean vocals worm their way onto “No Angels Weep” and “Afterlife,” which aren’t nearly as vital as vocalist Dan Greigsy’s screams and tack on an unwanted Stone Sour butt rockiness to the latter track’s ending. Endings are another issue. Although it’s worth celebrating Complexant’s realization of the power of editing, “Heretical Supremacy” and “Critical Mass” both end before they’ve hit their stride. Add some clumsy lyricism—”Cyclops, you only see through one perspective.” (“Cyclops”), “My head is at critical mass. One more thought and my cranium will surely collapse.” (“Critical Mass”)—and Apex’s rawness sometimes doesn’t work to Complexant’s benefit.

But more often than not, Complexant uses Apex’s bluntness as a proper instrument of devastation. Under the oppressive fury of drummer Seb Su’s blast beats, guitarists Shannon Zivkovic and Gavin Bradley and bassist Chris Tuckley churn out seething, brutish riffs one after the other, underpinning Greigsy’s incensed performance across Apex. Songs like “Swing Myself to Sleep” and “Eye for an Eye” attack with a balanced approach of imposing, dissonant blackened chords and neanderthal death chugs, the former deploying some fucked up noodling bits in the bridge and the latter ending in seriously caustic heaviness. Complexant’s mix highlights Su’s drums, who complements the guitars with a similarly dynamic balance of concussive speed (“No Angels Weep,” “Apex”) and groove (“No Hope for Sanctuary,” “Eye for an Eye”) while littering just enough fills across Apex for good measure. Finally, Complexant utilize breakdowns conservatively and effectively to punctuate dramatic moments in their songs (“Swing Myself to Sleep,” “Cyclops”) rather than writing everything tailored to the breakdown. Apex is a thematically uncompromising record, and thus benefits from the unsophisticated sound Complexant bestows it.

Not to be cruel, but Apex sounds best to these ears when Complexant sound just miserable. Apex features some truly harrowing and uncomfortable lyrics, and these moments usually encompass Complexant’s best material. From the suicidal ideation of “Swing Myself to Sleep,” to the vengeful murder fantasies of “Eye for an Eye,” to the proclamations against life itself on “Afterlife,” Complexant don’t endear themselves to you with their sunny dispositions. When Greigsy screams, “Eye for an eye when you take a man’s life. You brought a weapon, a weapon to a fist fight,” (“Eye for an Eye”), you best believe the instrumentals rise to meet his vitriol. At times Apex reminds me of Whitechapel’s The Valley in both sound and in barefaced confessional lyricism, reaching its emotional zenith on closer and album highlight “No Hope for Sanctuary.” Relaying the speaker’s childhood home life, his early claim of how he “was raised by fucking vandals” is bolstered by scenes of harrowing domestic violence and abuse, offering up an apt metaphor of being trapped under debris for the unstable environment he came up in. Apex doesn’t reach greatness as a whole, but in these uncompromisingly bleak moments Complexant reach the mark.

I had a good time having a bad time with Apex. Proving further that everything from Australia wants to kill you, Complexant can bring the hurt with the best of them, and Apex is a more than adequate exercise in hostility. Even where songwriting faltered, Apex is still enjoyable through the simple joy of the disgusting riff. Now, if Complexant hone their songwriting further by the time they’re ready for album number two, we’ll have something truly worth watching. If for our own safety, at the least.

Rating: Good!
DR: 4 | Format Reviewed: ???1
Labels: Bleeding Art Collective and Blood Blast Distribution
Websites: complexant.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/complexantband
Releases Worldwide: July 31, 2026

Some bands just know what they’re about right away. Australia’s blackened death metal band Complexant poise themselves as a rising star in the continent/country/island’s extreme metal ecosystem, storming the scene with “a sound defined by weight, darkness, and unrelenting intensity.” There’s little fanfare to Complexant’s promo around their debut full-length Apex: in so many words, they merely promise to kick as much ass as they can fit in a thirty-four-minute session. They’ve tormented their home country since 2022, but Apex aims to make Complexant a global menace. But can Apex raise Complexant to the cream of the blackened death crop?

That Apex is a debut isn’t too shocking. Complexant play a dense, modern-sounding brand of brutal death metal dusted with black metal vitriol and (slight) deathcore stank. Think Cordyceps—restless riffing, crushed production, murderous intent, etcetera—but with more human-sounding vocals and a willingness to let their boots off your neck from time to time. Apex is heavy, raw, and blunt, but Complexant’s greenness shows in some undercooked ideas and seriously ham-fisted moments. Clean vocals worm their way onto “No Angels Weep” and “Afterlife,” which aren’t nearly as vital as vocalist Dan Greigsy’s screams and tack on an unwanted Stone Sour butt rockiness to the latter track’s ending. Endings are another issue. Although it’s worth celebrating Complexant’s realization of the power of editing, “Heretical Supremacy” and “Critical Mass” both end before they’ve hit their stride. Add some clumsy lyricism—”Cyclops, you only see through one perspective.” (“Cyclops”), “My head is at critical mass. One more thought and my cranium will surely collapse.” (“Critical Mass”)—and Apex’s rawness sometimes doesn’t work to Complexant’s benefit.

But more often than not, Complexant uses Apex’s bluntness as a proper instrument of devastation. Under the oppressive fury of drummer Seb Su’s blast beats, guitarists Shannon Zivkovic and Gavin Bradley and bassist Chris Tuckley churn out seething, brutish riffs one after the other, underpinning Greigsy’s incensed performance across Apex. Songs like “Swing Myself to Sleep” and “Eye for an Eye” attack with a balanced approach of imposing, dissonant blackened chords and neanderthal death chugs, the former deploying some fucked up noodling bits in the bridge and the latter ending in seriously caustic heaviness. Complexant’s mix highlights Su’s drums, who complements the guitars with a similarly dynamic balance of concussive speed (“No Angels Weep,” “Apex”) and groove (“No Hope for Sanctuary,” “Eye for an Eye”) while littering just enough fills across Apex for good measure. Finally, Complexant utilize breakdowns conservatively and effectively to punctuate dramatic moments in their songs (“Swing Myself to Sleep,” “Cyclops”) rather than writing everything tailored to the breakdown. Apex is a thematically uncompromising record, and thus benefits from the unsophisticated sound Complexant bestows it.

Not to be cruel, but Apex sounds best to these ears when Complexant sound just miserable. Apex features some truly harrowing and uncomfortable lyrics, and these moments usually encompass Complexant’s best material. From the suicidal ideation of “Swing Myself to Sleep,” to the vengeful murder fantasies of “Eye for an Eye,” to the proclamations against life itself on “Afterlife,” Complexant don’t endear themselves to you with their sunny dispositions. When Greigsy screams, “Eye for an eye when you take a man’s life. You brought a weapon, a weapon to a fist fight,” (“Eye for an Eye”), you best believe the instrumentals rise to meet his vitriol. At times Apex reminds me of Whitechapel’s The Valley in both sound and in barefaced confessional lyricism, reaching its emotional zenith on closer and album highlight “No Hope for Sanctuary.” Relaying the speaker’s childhood home life, his early claim of how he “was raised by fucking vandals” is bolstered by scenes of harrowing domestic violence and abuse, offering up an apt metaphor of being trapped under debris for the unstable environment he came up in. Apex doesn’t reach greatness as a whole, but in these uncompromisingly bleak moments Complexant reach the mark.

I had a good time having a bad time with Apex. Proving further that everything from Australia wants to kill you, Complexant can bring the hurt with the best of them, and Apex is a more than adequate exercise in hostility. Even where songwriting faltered, Apex is still enjoyable through the simple joy of the disgusting riff. Now, if Complexant hone their songwriting further by the time they’re ready for album number two, we’ll have something truly worth watching. If for our own safety, at the least.

Rating: Good!
DR: 4 | Format Reviewed: ???1
Labels: Bleeding Art Collective and Blood Blast Distribution
Websites: complexant.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/complexantband
Releases Worldwide: July 31, 2026

Some bands just know what they’re about right away. Australia’s blackened death metal band Complexant poise themselves as a rising star in the continent/country/island’s extreme metal ecosystem, storming the scene with “a sound defined by weight, darkness, and unrelenting intensity.” There’s little fanfare to Complexant’s promo around their debut full-length Apex: in so many words, they merely promise to kick as much ass as they can fit in a thirty-four-minute session. They’ve tormented their home country since 2022, but Apex aims to make Complexant a global menace. But can Apex raise Complexant to the cream of the blackened death crop?

That Apex is a debut isn’t too shocking. Complexant play a dense, modern-sounding brand of brutal death metal dusted with black metal vitriol and (slight) deathcore stank. Think Cordyceps—restless riffing, crushed production, murderous intent, etcetera—but with more human-sounding vocals and a willingness to let their boots off your neck from time to time. Apex is heavy, raw, and blunt, but Complexant’s greenness shows in some undercooked ideas and seriously ham-fisted moments. Clean vocals worm their way onto “No Angels Weep” and “Afterlife,” which aren’t nearly as vital as vocalist Dan Greigsy’s screams and tack on an unwanted Stone Sour butt rockiness to the latter track’s ending. Endings are another issue. Although it’s worth celebrating Complexant’s realization of the power of editing, “Heretical Supremacy” and “Critical Mass” both end before they’ve hit their stride. Add some clumsy lyricism—”Cyclops, you only see through one perspective.” (“Cyclops”), “My head is at critical mass. One more thought and my cranium will surely collapse.” (“Critical Mass”)—and Apex’s rawness sometimes doesn’t work to Complexant’s benefit.

But more often than not, Complexant uses Apex’s bluntness as a proper instrument of devastation. Under the oppressive fury of drummer Seb Su’s blast beats, guitarists Shannon Zivkovic and Gavin Bradley and bassist Chris Tuckley churn out seething, brutish riffs one after the other, underpinning Greigsy’s incensed performance across Apex. Songs like “Swing Myself to Sleep” and “Eye for an Eye” attack with a balanced approach of imposing, dissonant blackened chords and neanderthal death chugs, the former deploying some fucked up noodling bits in the bridge and the latter ending in seriously caustic heaviness. Complexant’s mix highlights Su’s drums, who complements the guitars with a similarly dynamic balance of concussive speed (“No Angels Weep,” “Apex”) and groove (“No Hope for Sanctuary,” “Eye for an Eye”) while littering just enough fills across Apex for good measure. Finally, Complexant utilize breakdowns conservatively and effectively to punctuate dramatic moments in their songs (“Swing Myself to Sleep,” “Cyclops”) rather than writing everything tailored to the breakdown. Apex is a thematically uncompromising record, and thus benefits from the unsophisticated sound Complexant bestows it.

Not to be cruel, but Apex sounds best to these ears when Complexant sound just miserable. Apex features some truly harrowing and uncomfortable lyrics, and these moments usually encompass Complexant’s best material. From the suicidal ideation of “Swing Myself to Sleep,” to the vengeful murder fantasies of “Eye for an Eye,” to the proclamations against life itself on “Afterlife,” Complexant don’t endear themselves to you with their sunny dispositions. When Greigsy screams, “Eye for an eye when you take a man’s life. You brought a weapon, a weapon to a fist fight,” (“Eye for an Eye”), you best believe the instrumentals rise to meet his vitriol. At times Apex reminds me of Whitechapel’s The Valley in both sound and in barefaced confessional lyricism, reaching its emotional zenith on closer and album highlight “No Hope for Sanctuary.” Relaying the speaker’s childhood home life, his early claim of how he “was raised by fucking vandals” is bolstered by scenes of harrowing domestic violence and abuse, offering up an apt metaphor of being trapped under debris for the unstable environment he came up in. Apex doesn’t reach greatness as a whole, but in these uncompromisingly bleak moments Complexant reach the mark.

I had a good time having a bad time with Apex. Proving further that everything from Australia wants to kill you, Complexant can bring the hurt with the best of them, and Apex is a more than adequate exercise in hostility. Even where songwriting faltered, Apex is still enjoyable through the simple joy of the disgusting riff. Now, if Complexant hone their songwriting further by the time they’re ready for album number two, we’ll have something truly worth watching. If for our own safety, at the least.

Rating: Good!
DR: 4 | Format Reviewed: ???1
Labels: Bleeding Art Collective and Blood Blast Distribution
Websites: complexant.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/complexantband
Releases Worldwide: July 31, 2026

Some bands just know what they’re about right away. Australia’s blackened death metal band Complexant poise themselves as a rising star in the continent/country/island’s extreme metal ecosystem, storming the scene with “a sound defined by weight, darkness, and unrelenting intensity.” There’s little fanfare to Complexant’s promo around their debut full-length Apex: in so many words, they merely promise to kick as much ass as they can fit in a thirty-four-minute session. They’ve tormented their home country since 2022, but Apex aims to make Complexant a global menace. But can Apex raise Complexant to the cream of the blackened death crop?

That Apex is a debut isn’t too shocking. Complexant play a dense, modern-sounding brand of brutal death metal dusted with black metal vitriol and (slight) deathcore stank. Think Cordyceps—restless riffing, crushed production, murderous intent, etcetera—but with more human-sounding vocals and a willingness to let their boots off your neck from time to time. Apex is heavy, raw, and blunt, but Complexant’s greenness shows in some undercooked ideas and seriously ham-fisted moments. Clean vocals worm their way onto “No Angels Weep” and “Afterlife,” which aren’t nearly as vital as vocalist Dan Greigsy’s screams and tack on an unwanted Stone Sour butt rockiness to the latter track’s ending. Endings are another issue. Although it’s worth celebrating Complexant’s realization of the power of editing, “Heretical Supremacy” and “Critical Mass” both end before they’ve hit their stride. Add some clumsy lyricism—”Cyclops, you only see through one perspective.” (“Cyclops”), “My head is at critical mass. One more thought and my cranium will surely collapse.” (“Critical Mass”)—and Apex’s rawness sometimes doesn’t work to Complexant’s benefit.

But more often than not, Complexant uses Apex’s bluntness as a proper instrument of devastation. Under the oppressive fury of drummer Seb Su’s blast beats, guitarists Shannon Zivkovic and Gavin Bradley and bassist Chris Tuckley churn out seething, brutish riffs one after the other, underpinning Greigsy’s incensed performance across Apex. Songs like “Swing Myself to Sleep” and “Eye for an Eye” attack with a balanced approach of imposing, dissonant blackened chords and neanderthal death chugs, the former deploying some fucked up noodling bits in the bridge and the latter ending in seriously caustic heaviness. Complexant’s mix highlights Su’s drums, who complements the guitars with a similarly dynamic balance of concussive speed (“No Angels Weep,” “Apex”) and groove (“No Hope for Sanctuary,” “Eye for an Eye”) while littering just enough fills across Apex for good measure. Finally, Complexant utilize breakdowns conservatively and effectively to punctuate dramatic moments in their songs (“Swing Myself to Sleep,” “Cyclops”) rather than writing everything tailored to the breakdown. Apex is a thematically uncompromising record, and thus benefits from the unsophisticated sound Complexant bestows it.

Not to be cruel, but Apex sounds best to these ears when Complexant sound just miserable. Apex features some truly harrowing and uncomfortable lyrics, and these moments usually encompass Complexant’s best material. From the suicidal ideation of “Swing Myself to Sleep,” to the vengeful murder fantasies of “Eye for an Eye,” to the proclamations against life itself on “Afterlife,” Complexant don’t endear themselves to you with their sunny dispositions. When Greigsy screams, “Eye for an eye when you take a man’s life. You brought a weapon, a weapon to a fist fight,” (“Eye for an Eye”), you best believe the instrumentals rise to meet his vitriol. At times Apex reminds me of Whitechapel’s The Valley in both sound and in barefaced confessional lyricism, reaching its emotional zenith on closer and album highlight “No Hope for Sanctuary.” Relaying the speaker’s childhood home life, his early claim of how he “was raised by fucking vandals” is bolstered by scenes of harrowing domestic violence and abuse, offering up an apt metaphor of being trapped under debris for the unstable environment he came up in. Apex doesn’t reach greatness as a whole, but in these uncompromisingly bleak moments Complexant reach the mark.

I had a good time having a bad time with Apex. Proving further that everything from Australia wants to kill you, Complexant can bring the hurt with the best of them, and Apex is a more than adequate exercise in hostility. Even where songwriting faltered, Apex is still enjoyable through the simple joy of the disgusting riff. Now, if Complexant hone their songwriting further by the time they’re ready for album number two, we’ll have something truly worth watching. If for our own safety, at the least.

Rating: Good!
DR: 4 | Format Reviewed: ???1
Labels: Bleeding Art Collective and Blood Blast Distribution
Websites: complexant.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/complexantband
Releases Worldwide: July 31, 2026

Deux amis ratent leur correspondance à Londres et se retrouvent dans les ruelles de Whitechapel. Ce qui commence comme une escale érotique et complice bascule dans l'horreur la plus sombre.

Jack l'Éventreur n'a jamais vraiment quitté ses rues.

⚠️ Contenu 15+ : érotisme et horreur graphique.
📖 Sur #Panodyssey ou #Substack

https://lien.gabrieldax.fr/5

#Horreur #Érotisme #JackLÉventreur #Whitechapel #Fiction #GabrielDax #Nouvelles #Mastolivre

Wretched – Decay Review

By Dear Hollow

Wretched has always been a strange beast, incorporating the heft of deathcore with the technicality and atmosphere of more progressive acts. While breakout album (and my introduction to the band) Beyond the Gate was an elegantly elegiac deathcore album, swaying between the patient sprawls of “Birthing Sloth” and the bouncy chugs of “My Carrion,” follow-ups Sons of Perdition and Cannibal reflected the changing of the guard at vocals, as Glass Casket frontman Adam Cody injected an unhinged frenetic energy that had the band flirting with grind and thrash. Decay is an important album, released eleven years after its predecessor and existing as a return to form for a band that never had a slump.

While Cody injected the North Carolina act with a sense of urgency, the return of original vocalist Billy Powers returns Wretched to its more elegant and patient approaches. Although deathcore is on the bill, most of the proceeds recall The Black Dahlia Murder and Inferi rather than the Suicide Silences and Whitechapels of the world – landing somewhere in the core- and melo-realm of Vale of Pnath or early The Faceless.1 Yes, you’ll find some sticky chugs that punch through periodically, but the emphasis on the interplay between ominous and melodic shines brightest in Decay, reflecting a concept album that returns to the mythological roots as well as its musical roots – serving as a narrative prequel to the concept behind Beyond the Gate. Retaining that chthonic atmosphere, the balance between the light and dark and newfound experimentation are tantalizing, if imperfect, elements in the rebirth of Wretched.

If Beyond the Gate was your favorite Wretched record, Decay is a welcome return. Waltz-like 6/8 timing, drawn-out passages collapsing into Steve Funderburk’s signature melodic cascades, and periodic breakdowns amid the elegiac, adding a necessary spike to the beautiful melodies. Powers’ vocals, as is the case in debut The Exodus of Anatomy and Beyond the Gate, can feel a bit jarring in their raspier tone and regularly impressive range (feeling asynchronous with the elegant instrumental musings) – but he delivers a charismatic performance that drives the music forward. The bookends of Decay find themselves in this realm, balancing melody with chunky bite and shifting tempos (“Decay,” “The Royal Body,” “Blackout”), while more aggressive rhythms and anthemic lyrics offer bouncy fun (“Malus Incarnate,” “The Golden Tide,” “The Golden Skyway”). While this range works, some tracks feel too rooted in the former, relying on overly long and uninteresting sprawls rooted in semi-heavy open strum patterns (“The Crimson Sky”). Taken as a whole, the first act can be a bit too heavy a mood-setter than a series of interesting songs, as well, due to Wretched’s more subdued approach.

The centerpieces of Decay find Wretched tossing out the template and flipping off the comfort zone. Blessedly, the experimentation is not without an adequate transition, as its simultaneously most brutal and most melodic (“Radiance”) appears to move fluidly into the more experimental meat. Grungy clean vocals and wailing guitar solos move through an almost Southern-fried bluesy melodic template (“Clairvoyance”), a heavenly choral interlude gives rest before the journey (“The Mortal Line”), and the longest Wretched track in its discography: the sixteen-minute long “Behind the Glass”2 moves between moods of despair, forgiveness, and light through layers of guitar leads, violin, flutes, and even accordion, deteriorating into viciously dark chugs. This is capped off by an unsettling foray into dissonance and jagged rhythms (“Lights”), before returning to the more aggressive third act.

At its worst, Wretched offers either dull shimmies of monotonous strums or a progressive edge so wild it can be disorienting. What’s remarkable, though, is that it nonetheless feels distinctly like Wretched, and a return to the mythological heyday of their sophomore effort – that flexibility has been a strength all along. Sure, Powers’ vocals can feel out of place in the gentler moments, some tracks don’t land, the heft is lacking, and the track list is shaped like an epic with weird-ass moments to shake you loose, but the band’s storytelling through its songwriting is well intact, if not better, than eleven years ago. It’s a welcome return to form for Wretched and speaks to avenues of possibility. The fifth full-length suggests more potential than it achieves but the moral is the same: ironically, no decay in sight.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Metal Blade Records
Websites: wretchednc.bandcamp.com | wretchedmusic.com | facebook.com/wretchednc
Releases Worldwide: October 17th, 2025

#2025 #30 #AmericanMetal #Deathcore #Decay #GlassCasket #Inferi #MelodicDeathMetal #MelodicDeathcore #MetalBladeRecords #MirrorOfDeadFaces #Oct25 #ProgressiveDeathMetal #Review #Reviews #SuicideSilence #TechnicalDeathcore #TheBlackDahliaMurder #TheFaceless #ValeOfPnath #Whitechapel #Wretched

#TheMetalDogArticleList #MetalInjection Metal Injection's Top Tracks Of The Week, 9/13/2024 metalinjection.net/playlist/top... #Mastodon #LambOfGod #Whitechapel #BlackLabelSociety #AugustBurnsRed #Jinjer #DefeatedSanity #Earthburner #AsILayDying #Frost #Molder #Underoath #NeonNightmare

#TheMetalDogArticleList
#MetalInjection
Metal Injection's Top Tracks Of The Week, 9/13/2024

https://metalinjection.net/playlist/top-tracks-of-the-week-playlist/metal-injections-top-tracks-of-the-week-9-13-2024

#Mastodon #LambOfGod #Whitechapel #BlackLabelSociety #AugustBurnsRed #Jinjer #DefeatedSanity #Earthburner #AsILayDying #Frost #Molder #Underoath #NeonNightmare #Lowrider #DreamlessVeil #Deadbody #TribalGaze

For #ThursDeath:
@fitforanautopsy: Hostage

https://song.link/tzrmbrzmvwvwq

#BrutalDeathcore #DeathGrind

FFO #Archspire #ThyArtIsMurder #Whitechapel

The Royal London Hospital and Ledbury Estate

#photography #london #urban #cityscape #urbanphotography #southlondon #dulwich #futuristic #cyberpunk #bladerunner #brutalism #socialhousing #dawsonsheights #dawsonheights #royallondonhospital #lukehouse #wintertonhouse #ledburyestate #witcombepoint #tyneterrace #whitechapel #towerhamlets #peckham