ALBUM REVIEW: Stare Into Death and Be Still – Ulcerate

ULCERATE are one of extreme metal’s shining gems. Over the course of the band’s near two-decade career, the New Zealand trio’s dedication for producing unorthodox, complex and mind-warping death metal has won plaudits across the board and their consistently solid track-record of studio albums is evidence of this. Four years have passed since the excellent Shrines of Paralysis and now, the band return from the shadows once more, armed with their sixth full-length Stare Into Death and Be Still.

Where Shrines of Paralysis saw ULCERATE divert more attention to the musical technicality of their dissonant noise, Stare Into Death and Be Still sees ULCERATE mature like a fine wine, incorporating all the experience and facets of their sound to create a record that is simply stunning from start to finish.

Opening number The Lifeless Advance sees ULCERATE build a sustained opening, one in which carries the band’s trademark sense of foreboding dread, before unleashing a musical barrage that resembles a vicious vortex. Michael Hoggard‘s unorthodox and mind-bending riffing and elaborate lead guitar work keeps you on your toes whilst the prolonged barrage of Jamie Saint Merat‘s drums and Paul Kelland‘s dense bass lines and roaring gutturals ensures that Stare Into Death and Be Still sets an immediate precedent and it does just that.

From there, ULCERATE keep on swinging and the resulting punches are as pulverising as they are utterly satisfying, with a helping hand from a stellar production job. Exhale The Ash‘s dissonant and technical lead rhythms ebbs and flows perfectly to the bombastic brutality, the title track boasts some of the slickest passages of play as Merat‘s percussion combines effortlessly with the razor-sharp riffing and the black metal-bite to Inversion‘s cacophonous riffing makes the track stand as a hulking behemoth in sheer scope and power.

With the intensity set so high right from the off, one could forgive ULCERATE for easing their foot on the gas, opting for a more sustained aural assault as the record progresses. And whilst Stare Into Death and Be Still does flirt and tease with its pacing and mood, the suffocating fog of the band’s soundscape is consistently engulfing. The intro to There Is No Horizon is a slow-burn where the trio divert to a funeral-march crawl that allows the sinister aspects to their sound take hold before executing another routine blast of heaviness and the ambient flourishes applied in the song’s mid-section is a work of musical genius. Visceral Ends however, stands as the shining example of the band’s increased experimentation and as a result, is not just one of the strongest songs on the record, but in fact, it is one of the best extreme metal songs ever written. Here, ULCERATE deploy a yin and yang approach as they mould both the ambient and brooding calm with the unrelenting and vicious musical maelstrom to create a song that is absolutely breathtaking.

The experimentation and willingness to think even more outside of the box has worked wonders for ULCERATE. It is a welcome breath of fresh air to the band’s overall impact. Whilst some of the band’s previous efforts have relied on an overwhelming pummelling, particularly 2013’s Vermis, with Stare Into Death and Be Still, the band’s utilisation of expansiveness to their craft has helped the album make a much more lasting and impactful connection.

Stare Into Death and Be Still is a masterpiece of extremity. From the cacophonous and dissonant musical vortex to passages where the band’s flirtations with doom-driven tones are allowed to shine, this album is a living, breathing monster, showing ULCERATE at their creative zenith. Make no mistake, this is the strongest album the band have created and is one of the strongest albums to grace extreme metal this year.

Rating: 10/10

Stare Into Death And Be Still is set for release on April 24th via Debemur Morti Productions.

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