ALBUM REVIEW: Suffer & Become – Vitriol
The destructive force known as VITRIOL left the landscape of metal in a state of shock and awe with their utterly crushing debut To Bathe From The Throat Of Cowardice back in 2019. They have since reaped the rewards of their efforts by sharing the stage with death metal royalty such as NILE, CATTLE DECAPITATION and ATHEIST. 2024 signifies the opening of a new chapter for the band in the form of new full length Suffer & Become which is available now via Century Media Records, a collection of ear-mangling intensity which is not for the faint of heart.
Shame And Its Afterbirth doesn’t take long to make you feel uncomfortable and unnerved with its jarring, discordant assault. Grisly vocal barrages overwhelm your senses as you are engulfed in a sea of sheer chaos. Vicious blast beats run amok, further enhancing the frenzy. The Flowers Of Sadism follows suit, unpredictably shifting shape to add additional disillusionment to the table. A cacophonous surge of riffwork attacks from all angles. Nursing From The Mother Wound keeps chipping away at your sanity, refusing to let that BPM shift below levels of optimum carnage. An athletic test of endurance for all instruments.
In the early going The Isolating Lie Of Learning Another adopts a more subdued, bludgeoning approach in brief pockets, whilst still maintaining enough firepower to rattle your skeleton. A semblance of melody does begin to seep through the cracks in this formidable monster, displaying a raw vulnerability held deep within.
Survival’s Careening Inertia brings this melody to the forefront with some sharp-edged but enticing clean segments. The energetic drum sequences that follow are enough to eject your jaw onto the floor. Weaponized Loss sustains the violence with caustic screams and guttural growls leading the charge. The pin point precision of the instrumentation is as impressive as it is harrowing. Flood of Predation throws any sense of caution that may have lingered to the wind, unleashing a ferocious blast of intensity straight down your throat.
Locked In Thine Frothing Wisdom keeps those blast beats flowing, washing over you like a waterfall filled with shards of glass. Rapid riffing weaves its chaotic web, leaving you with no room for respite. I Am Every Enemy revisits the stomping, hammering nature showcased previously, squeezing any air that remained out of your lungs. He Will Fight Savagely fully intends to depart leaving you cowering for mercy by unveiling one final seismic volley of ruthlessness.
VITRIOL may not be to everyone’s taste but you cannot deny that they are one of the most exciting and downright devastating bands you’ll find in any corner of this planet. Suffer & Become is a potent, unforgiving force of nature which challenges your perceptions of extreme metal, dragging you kicking and screaming through a vortex of horrifying but addictive passages. It might not be an album which you gravitate to on a regular basis but it is an album which will certainly leave a lasting impression.
Rating: 9/10
Suffer & Become is out now via Century Media Records.
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