“Is the point of living just to survive?”
The UK’s underground metal scene has no shortage of incredibly hard working yet supremely underrated groups. One such group is Nottingham’s Pulse, who are now just about 5 years deep into their career. Throughout the arduous 2020s, a time where emerging artists are facing significant obstacles, Pulse have delivered a diverse array of impressive releases, including their debut album ourpulseisyours and several darker, more deathcore-oriented singles like “Flies” and “Devour.” As we enter 2025, Pulse is gearing up to drop their second album, Body Is Reality. This ambitious release sees the band double down on their heavier djent and deathcore influences, while also exploring the more atmospheric, ambient side of modern metalcore.
“Burial Ground” opens the album with a bang, capturing much of the same intensity that defined previous singles like “Flies,” featuring groovy mid-tempo djent riffs and heavy, slow deathcore breakdowns. “Disengagement” follows suit with some added industrial elements and an impressive vocal feature from Malice and Ingested vocalist Josh Davies coinciding with an explosive final breakdown. “The Perfect Gene” is able to round out this intensive three track run by showcasing Pulse’s skill in incorporating a range of tempos into their compositions, allowing for technicality and maintaining a dynamic, fresh sound within their space.
“Silver Skies” marks the band’s venture into territory that has remained largely uncharted for them, at least since 2021’s ourpulseisyours, reintroducing clean vocals and elements of ambient music. Further cuts such as “Fall to Despair”, “Grey Matter” and “Desire” continue this trend, with the same clean singing atop massive, soaring choruses to make Body Is Reality all the more interesting in its approach. “Grey Matter” is an especially potent track as the album temporarily shifts away from these established cleans yet manages to retain some melodic riffing and ambient moments. The final moments of “Desire” are also commendable for displaying such a sharp contrast between the track’s powerful chorus and its dark, gritty and absolutely disgusting concluding ten seconds.
If there is anything negative to take away from the experience here, it would be the mix, which I don’t think is inherently bad. The strings are crunchy, the drums are punchy; the problem for me lies within the vocals, which are simply mixed a tad too loud for my taste. Of course, it’s not overbearing or anything; it was just something I noticed and feel the need to mention here.
“Requiem” sees the album off on a lighter note, and while it’s certainly not a bad track by any means, I was hoping for a more explosive conclusion to what is already a very short experience. Just barely long enough to stand as an album, I would’ve liked to see at least one more heavy track here somewhere, but as it stands, Body Is Reality is a fairly strong effort from a band that’s only gotten better with time. I’m confident their next release will place them firmly on the map and earn them a place among the greatest UK metal acts.
8/10
Body Is Reality is out Friday the 7th February, and can be pre-ordered here.