- Country: New Zealand
- Style: Technical death metal / Post-metal
- Label: Debemur Morti Productions
- Release date: 24 April 2020
Ulcerate have spent their career making death metal that feels more like weather than violence, and their sixth album is the most gripping version of that yet. The New Zealand trio still pile dissonant chords on top of Jamie Saint Merat’s endlessly shifting drumming, but Stare into Death and Be Still has a melodic undertow they’ve never leaned into this much.
“The Lifeless Advance” sets the tone, cold and slowly rising rather than all-out brutal. “Exhale the Ash” has a riff that keeps circling back like a bad thought, and the title track builds to some of the most overwhelming climaxes in their catalogue. Paul Kelland’s roar sits low and steady under it all.
This much dissonance is a demand, not a request. “Dissolved Orders” closes it with a strange, battered kind of beauty. Hard going in places, and absolutely worth it.
Best tracks:
The Lifeless Advance
Exhale the Ash
Stare Into Death and Be Still
Dissolved Orders
Author’s rating: 9.0/10
Gave it 5 stars
No member has given this album 5 stars yet. Join WeMetalheads and rate it.
