Truth be told, I think deathcore is in a better place now than it’s ever been before. While some may argue that the level of nostalgia that classic deathcore records like Whitechapel’s The Somatic Defilement or Suicide Silence’s The Cleansing marked a sort of golden age of deathcore so to speak, on a musical level I believe the genre is leagues ahead of its past. With a wave of artists cropping up over the past decade pushing the genre forward, putting their own unique spins on the genre, I believe the genre is reaching its true golden age. No other artist exemplifies the genre’s potential quite like New Jersey outfit Lorna Shore for me, though.
Even from their earliest days as a group, with releases such as 2012’s Bone Kingdom and 2013’s Maleficium, it was clear Lorna Shore just had something else going on, something else that set them apart from the pack. Truthfully, though, I feel like they hit their stride with 2020’s Immortal; a record so grandiose and bombastic for the genre that it felt like the metal world at large shifted their attention toward the group in tandem. Soaring symphonics, blackened twists on a deathcore sound, and absolutely vile vocal performances lined the listening experience for Immortal, and it felt like Lorna Shore had truly found it, their very own sound that they had been chasing for all those years.
Now, more than a year-and-a-half following Immortal’s release, along with obtaining new vocalist Will Ramos along the way, we have …And I Return To Nothingness. It seems Lorna Shore had to pull something big off with this EP to capitalise on the hype and momentum of Immortal. And, despite that immensely daunting task ahead of them, the group seem to have taken that challenge in stride. See, despite only containing about a third of the tracks of Immortal, …And I Return To Nothingness packs in and amplifies everything that made that album so enthralling into three expansive, grandiose and, despite that, surprisingly concise tracks.
Of course, single and EP closer “To The Hellfire” has been the talk of the town so to speak in recent weeks. With its elevated symphonics and crushingly brutal breakdowns, it provides the perfect insight as to what Lorna Shore clearly set out to do with …And I Return To Nothingness: do everything better, and, more importantly, do it bigger. Moreover, I believe this is the perfect hook for Lorna Shore fans, old and new, to get hyped for the EP’s release. In my recent interview with vocalist Will Ramos, he stated that the group wanted to simultaneously “hit the breakdown crowd, but hit the death metal crowd too,” and I believe this track, while tapping into both sounds at least partially, is absolutely the more breakdown crowd-y song across this release.
With that said, the EP’s two remaining tracks paint a much broader and more impressive spectrum of what Lorna Shore are capable of, musically speaking. Opener and title track “…And I Return To Nothingness” sets the tone immediately with eerie, melodic synth work. At a whopping six minutes (as all of these songs are, actually), it’s a truly epic cold open. One thing that may surprise fans is this track is astoundingly light on any typical Lorna Shore breakdowns, and instead focuses more on those elevated symphonics to provide a planet-sized sound. That’s not to say this track isn’t heavy as all shit, however – it absolutely is. Though I feel as if its more reserved attitude toward the typical le br00tal breakdowns some may come to have expect from the band, and instead its reliance on melody and its more musically mature structure does wonders for showing what this band is truly capable of.
Second track “Of The Abyss”, appropriately, feels like the meeting point between these two tracks. While continuing the trend set by the opener of an insistence on tapping further into the colossal melodics (even introducing what sounds like a pitched scream at one point), “Of The Abyss” works to appease what fans of their older work may have miss in the opener. Containing one of the most sludgy and brutal moments across this EP in its mid-point breakdown, this one is sure to not only be a fan favourite, but a live show staple in the future.
I have to especially commend newcomer Will Ramos for his performance across this thing. Not only does this man have range as a vocalist, but he is without a doubt the perfect fit for this band’s newer sound. While pulling off the insane guttural work that fans of the band have come to expect, Ramos’ higher range, including his Dickie Allen-esque zombie screams left me with multiple cases of irreversible stank face. Further, drummer Austin Archey is an absolute star here too. With hyper-speed foot work and blasts and foot work littered across this thing, I do not envy him having to hammer these new tracks out live every night, but at least it’ll be a good work out.
All in all, …And I Return To Nothingness is an absolutely stellar follow-up to what was easily one of my favourite deathcore releases of the last decade. Gargantuan production, unabashed grandiosity, disgusting vocals and nigh-on inhuman drum work mark the journey ahead of you when you press play on this thing. At just three tracks, it leaves me wanting more, but that’s by no means a bad thing. At just shy of 20 minutes, there’s more than enough content here to sink your teeth into until the band’s inevitable next full-length. …And I Return To Nothingness is available this Friday, August 13th via Century Media, and you can find pre-orders here.
9.5/10