CUTTING THE THROAT OF GOD

New Zealand's ULCERATE was one of a few intrepid explorative death metal bands to follow in the footsteps of early pioneering disso-death acts such as Immolation and Gorguts and after forming in the year 2000 spawned its own ugly flavoring of unhinged technical death metal run amok replete with all the atonality and discordant excess a human aural system can absorb. The band has delivered a string of consistently high quality albums in its near quarter century existence and in recent years has risen to the top tiers of tech disso-death royalty. After abandoning the incessant brutal bombast of its 2007 debut "Of Fracture And Failure," the band has taken a more nuanced approach by spicing up the death metal savagery with more expansive atmospheric elegance and also by dipping into other metal realms ranging from sludge metal to darkened elements borrowed from the black metal universe.

After a four year lull since the critically acclaimed "Stare Into Death And Be Still," ULCERATE is back to inflict the most harrowing gastrointestinal damage with its latest release CUTTING THE THROAT OF GOD. While the title may be pandering to the black metal crowds, i ask myself if an omnipotent creator of the universe exists in a physical form and therefore would God have a throat? Existential quandaries aside, ULCERATE steadily but surely over its seven album run has incrementally refined its unique brand of aggressive disso-death into an art form all its own. This seventh album in the ULCERATE canon takes a deeper dip into the world of atmospheric sludge metal with a wider breadth of stylistic approaches that were hampered by the incessant brutality on previous works that hammered it all out with authoritative ease.

Existing as a stable power trio since the band's 2009 release "Everything Is Fire," ULCERATE has become a well-oiled machine where these three musicians have fused into one frightening force and on CUTTING THE THROAT OF GOD showcase the newly established attribute of restraint as heard on the opening nonchalant slow burner approach of "To Flow Through Ashen Hearts" which focuses less on speed and turns up the burner for atmospheric constructs from simmer to fully fueled. By delivering slowed down tempos, the band keeps things firmly planted in the ferocity of the death metal camp by offering exotic guitar riffs delivered by Michael Hoggard, the dissonant bass counterpoints of Paul Kelland and the bantering drumming gymnastics of Jamie Saint Merat. Kelland's guttural growls have changed little and he ferociously enunciates every sacrilegious syllabic utterance with all the brash bravado that ULCERATE has infused into its technical cauldron of steaming hot disso-death from the beginning.

The album features seven brand spanking new tracks that discordantly reverberate with heavy distortion for nearly 58 minutes of suffocating darkness and despair. While the band's trajectory has been incrementally slow-paced in its evolution, CUTTING THE THROAT OF GOD is noticeably different than its predecessor in that it feels less rampaging even from the 2020 release "Stare Into Death And Be Still." The mix is distinguishable as well with more distinct tones and timbres oozing out of the delirious din that advances in tenacious tumult only with a more controlled impulse to leap into frenetic displays of brutal savagery. In fact this is probably the least barbaric sounding of the entire ULCERATE discography although despite the somewhat cooling off effect in terms of unbridled speed and incessant pummelation of the senses, CUTTING THE THROAT OF GOD by no means sounds like a wimpy rendition of a once great band. No way.

This latest discharge of dissonant din is merely shifting around the dynamics a bit and focusing a bit more on atmospheric diversions from the one-trick pony penchants of a larger swath of technical death metal bands out there. Speed freaks worry not for moments of letting the rabid pit bull off the leash do occur. While many are acclaiming this release as the best of the lot, personally i favor the heavier adrenalized speedfests of the past. With no disparaging criticism in the least against this new flavor of ULCERATE's established sound, it would appear to me that the sudden interest in propelling ULCERATE to the top of the disso-death camp is more a result of the greater metal world finding a nice comfort zone in the more extreme expressions of death metal. To my insatiable ears though this one sounds a bit tame by weeding out the many of the progressive tendencies and ear-splitting bombast of the past in favor of a more streamlined post-metal continuity. While not my ultimate ULCERATE experience, there's no denying that these guys have mastered the art of this gnarled nasty niche of extreme metal and even with these changes makes CUTTING THE THROAT OF GOD an excellent relevant smattering of modern disso-death.

I covered Ulcerate's last album, 2020's Stare into Death and Be Still, and I liked it. I didn't revere it quite as much as many others, but it's a solid album overall. My thoughts on it haven't moved much since my original review. This trio's new release though, Cutting the Throat of God, takes the thundering, intelligent death metal of their last album and further refines it into something spectacular.

"To Flow Through Ashen Hearts" (the album's shortest cut at a mere 7:07) kicks things off with a melancholic, vaguely Eastern-tinged guitar line. The guitar has a wonderful, piercing quality to it that conveys an emotional weight. Oftentimes, I find myself bored by death metal acts' constant, down-tuned chugging that can lend an air of mushiness. Ulcerate, though, excel at being heavy as hell while also having clear melody. I love the way the band plays with dynamics, and different riffs and themes that interact with and complement one another.

The crushing power of this album continues on "The Dawn Is Hollow". Tangled guitar lines and deft, speedy drumming work in concert to foster a sense of controlled chaos. This energy is balanced against occasional slower passages which have hints of icy post-punk, resulting in a balanced, exciting dramatic arc.

"Further Opening the Wounds" strikes a mood somewhere between the prior two songs' openings. It's heavy, but at a relatively restrained pace. Once the vocals enter, the drumming cranks up a notch, and soon afterward, black metal-flavored riffs are propelling things along. The atmosphere on this cut is especially expansive, with the overlaid layers of guitar echoing out over unrelenting percussion.

Things calm down for the beginning of "Transfiguration In and Out of Worlds". The guitar has an eerie, jangling tone, and the drumming is restrained. As things get heavier and heavier, a steady, lurching rhythm emerges, and the drumming is unexpectedly jazzy. It's a bit disorienting, but in a fun and unexpected way.

"To See Death Just Once" bursts out of the gate with thundering fury. The drums are completely pummeling, and the guitar features strange, slightly dissonant intervals that do a lot to add to the oppressive, disorienting mood. The band repeatedly shifts between the types of blistering riffs which open this song and slower, more deliberate passages that meditate on foreboding moods.

The album's longest cut is the nine-and-a-half-minute "Undying as an Apparition". It continues in a vein similar to the song which preceded it, and it even bears a decent amount of structural similarity. Despite this continuity, the song doesn't feel superfluous or repetitive, and I'm struggling to verbalize why. Ulcerate excels at imbuing their music with massive amounts of heavy emotionality, and that comes through particularly well on this cut. The production is also fantastic. Everything comes through cleanly and clearly, but this is also about as far from "glossy" as you can get. That combination allows the band to dwell on similar ideas without the music coming off as samey.

Cutting the Throat of God ends on its title track. Its opening riff is striking, featuring some harshly-bent notes. These twists contrast against some (relatively) straightforward chugging riffage, and it all coalesces into a striking, powerful composition. Cascading arpeggi in this song's midsection evoke certain post-metal acts. This is a fitting capstone to the album.

Ulcerate have made a bold, dense, and engrossing record with Cutting the Throat of God. It doesn't feel nearly as long as it is, and the music is intelligent and passionate. They have reached new heights here, and it's clear why they are one of the most respected bands in the modern world of death metal.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2024/07/29/album-review-ulcerate-cutting-the-throat-of-god/