\n<\/p>\n
As they approach two-and-a-half decades as a band, Ulcerate<\/a><\/strong> has developed into a rare case where a death metal band can include elements of multiple strains of the genre without getting bogged down in the minutia. Abstract, yet riffy\u2026 melodic, yet dissonant\u2026 Ulcerate<\/a><\/strong><\/strong> treads the line between death metal\u2019s experimental frontier, and its savage foundations.<\/p>\n With a title as anti-theistic as Cutting the Throat of God<\/em>, a turn for black metal. But again, blackened death metal is just another shade of the genre these guys seem intent on traversing in its entirety with their music. This album comes jam-packed with all manner of aural wickedness, brutality, and technicality founded on atmospheric depth.<\/p>\n Ironically, the 7-minute \u201cTo Flow Through Ashen Hearts\u201d is the shortest track on this album. Ulcerate\u2019s approach remains dense both in concept and execution, as a multifaceted guitar lead directs the song from delicate meditations to a cavalcade of bombastic chord changes and beat switches. It comes off like the newer Katatonia<\/a><\/strong> albums with extreme vocals, as the riffs glide so effortlessly alongside the drums from tremolo flourishes to gnarled chugs.<\/p>\n This is a rare example where the jazz comparison makes sense for drummer Jamie Saint Merat<\/strong>. He manages to bring genuinely spontaneous rhythmic interplay to his performances, which helps a track like \u201cThe Dawn is Hollow\u201d wind its way through a myriad of unique chord voicings and chilling melodicism. While certainly challenging, rafts of memorable heaviness remain intact to quench the thirst to headbang.<\/p>\n \n