Back in 2020 in the midst of Lockdown part 856 there was an announcement that a band consisting of members of Converge, The Red Chord, Hatebreed and Job for a Cowboy had formed, needless to say I lost my mind when Umbra Vitae came about as 1 of these bands is easily in my top 20 ever and the rest are all equally amazing, an album in the shape of Shadow Of Light followed and honestly?, I was slightly underwhelmed by it? Maybe I expected too much from them? Who knows anyway it’s been 4 years, and they have re-united and recorded their second album Light Of Death, so will this be the one that really makes me excited and back up all the talent involved??
It starts with a suitably epic build up on Leave Of Absence and when it does all explode into life it does so in suitably hectic fashion mixing the hardcore and death metal influences of all the members to absolute insane perfection its mix of fast and furious hardcore but ultimately is rooted firmly in the heaviness of death metal and it all mixes together in effortless perfection, Belief Is Obsolete absolutely tears out of the blocks and is supercharged metallic hardcore with some absolutely filthy riffs that mix the groove of death with the bravado of hardcore but never sways to close to one style with everything mixing together is absolute devastating harmony.
It starts with a suitably epic build up on Leave Of Absence and when it does all explode into life it does so in suitably hectic fashion mixing the hardcore and death metal influences of all the members to absolute insane perfection its mix of fast and furious hardcore but ultimately is rooted firmly in the heaviness of death metal and it all mixes together in effortless perfection, Belief Is Obsolete absolutely tears out of the blocks and is supercharged metallic hardcore with some absolutely filthy riffs that mix the groove of death with the bravado of hardcore but never sways to close to one style with everything mixing together is absolute devastating harmony.
Before Clear Cutter blasts and bounds into your conscious with some huge chugging riffs that sound crystal clear and are insanely heavy and the ferocity and speed of this track sees it fall into a grindcore rhythm and when its all over in 1:26 you just want it to keep on going but alas it doesn’t and Anti-Spirit Machine carries on with the stunning production from none other than Kurt Ballou so of course it sounds unreal and you don’t miss a single note which can sometimes happen when the music is so chaotic and unpredictable and the chorus on this song is an absolute work of art, Jacob Bannon sounds as glass throated and angry as ever and Mike McKenzie and Sean Martin have to be commended for there guitar work here, its fucking amazing!!
Reality In Retrograde is another short, sharp grinding shock to the system that is here and gone in 57 seconds of furious anger and apocalyptic sounding music that just doesn’t let you gather yourself before Past Tense roars out and is a full on mid-paced grooving death metal monster that this album has been calling out for but of course the nature of these people is to brutalize and attack which also happens and the blend of madness and measure really is something that you cant appreciate enough as a listener.
As we reach the mid-point of the album with Velvet Black we are introduced to an altogether different side of Umbra Vitae which is a slow and doomy sound that really showcases the low end, huge rumble of Greg Weeks’ bass sound that manages to create menace and unease and shows that all the experience gained from the years of playing in their bands has taught them many different ways to create heavy music, I think if most tried to introduce this song on an album like this it wouldn’t work, not here! Here its another masterstroke of heaviness!
As we reach the mid-point of the album with Velvet Black we are introduced to an altogether different side of Umbra Vitae which is a slow and doomy sound that really showcases the low end, huge rumble of Greg Weeks’ bass sound that manages to create menace and unease and shows that all the experience gained from the years of playing in their bands has taught them many different ways to create heavy music, I think if most tried to introduce this song on an album like this it wouldn’t work, not here! Here its another masterstroke of heaviness!
The slowed down pace is then firmly kicked to the curb and Twenty-Twenty Vision feels like it forcefully places your jaw on that curb and stamps directly on the back of your head, the bluntness and utter savagery on show here is something that only really comes around so often and while you would expect it from Umbra Vitae, it still gets you excited and wanting more and of course its delivered on Algorithm Of Fear which mixes the metalcore/noise of Converge and the grooving death metal influence of The Red Chord to stunning effect and the for another track Jon Rice has an absolute world class performance on the drums.
Empty Vessel is a whirlwind of brutality and in 1:38 manages to create a noise so unholy and relentless you wonder what they are going to do to follow this up and of course they completely change everything on Cause & Effect with a gentle acoustic intro that then cascades into an epic and atmospheric doomy death metal masterpiece, full of swathes of rich, textured guitars that as always end up exploding into life with such a fury you wonder how much more you can take but then it all drops down into a slow dragging chug mixed with blasting sections ad all this could sound confusing to read but to listen to its truly special and a little overwhelming but in the best way.
If that was the end of the album, I would have had no complaints but its not so we keep on going with Deep End and to show the clear light and day between tracks its is back to the utter chaos and savagery that has become customary on this record so far and this far into an album you may expect the foot to come off the pedal maybe, no chance, its just full throttle fist to the throat stuff and this is no more evident than on Nature vs Nurture which lulls you in with a another soft acoustic intro before probably the most straightforward sounding song on the whole album, its predominantly a death metal track but with the unpredictability element thrown in just to make sure your paying attention all the way.
If that was the end of the album, I would have had no complaints but its not so we keep on going with Deep End and to show the clear light and day between tracks its is back to the utter chaos and savagery that has become customary on this record so far and this far into an album you may expect the foot to come off the pedal maybe, no chance, its just full throttle fist to the throat stuff and this is no more evident than on Nature vs Nurture which lulls you in with a another soft acoustic intro before probably the most straightforward sounding song on the whole album, its predominantly a death metal track but with the unpredictability element thrown in just to make sure your paying attention all the way.
Into the final tracks of the album and with Fatal Flaw we get one last blast of Converge-esque noisy and out of control furiousness which then makes way for closing track Light Of Death which is full of blasting drums and razor sharp death metal riffing mixing with the haunted vocal screeches that always hit you deep and the actual song itself just sounds like a wave of noise that just consumes you and drags you in, makes you feel all the pain involved then at the end just drops you and walks off without looking back.
WOW! And when I say that I really mean it, this album is everything I was expecting from the debut and then some, it has everything you could want as a fan of heavy music, its thought provoking, angry, beautiful in places, heavy as fuck and ultimately from beginning to end there is not one single song that you would want to avoid. The longer Light Of Death goes on the more invested you get and the feeling after its all done is one of complete shock because the intensity on show is unrelenting and for some maybe just too much. Make no mistake about it, if you like heavy music this album is a must hear. Absolute perfection in music form. 10/10
WOW! And when I say that I really mean it, this album is everything I was expecting from the debut and then some, it has everything you could want as a fan of heavy music, its thought provoking, angry, beautiful in places, heavy as fuck and ultimately from beginning to end there is not one single song that you would want to avoid. The longer Light Of Death goes on the more invested you get and the feeling after its all done is one of complete shock because the intensity on show is unrelenting and for some maybe just too much. Make no mistake about it, if you like heavy music this album is a must hear. Absolute perfection in music form. 10/10
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