LORD OF WAR - Suffer

July 26, 2016, 7 years ago

(Unique Leader)

Greg Pratt

Rating: 6.0

review black death lord of war

LORD OF WAR - Suffer

California's Lord Of War aren't exactly what you'd expect after seeing they're on Unique Leader Records. Sure, they're brutal and technical death metal, but there's also a lot of deathcore and even djent-y Messhugah-loving chug-chugging happening here. This lengthy album starts strong, really strong: the first few songs just kill it, the band's huge, dense, powerful death metal coming powerful and satisfying. The title track showcases the band's strength: cool guitar work that knows how to be melodic at times but is mainly ultra-precise and intense. 

But, man, I'm beaten and battered by about 30 minutes in... and there's still 19 minutes left. Considering every song here sounds more or less like the last, I question that decision in a huge way; maximum impact would be at ending the album around the 30-minute mark. Still, looking at individual songs, like “Manufactured Existence” and its killer and ridiculously tight double bass and guitar locked-in groove or “Carbon Based Genocide” and its cool Meshuggah-loving opening, this is good stuff, where trad DM meets deathcore and it's actually not too annoying. But the grinding feels a bit too polite and the production could stand to be a bit rawer and less stiff (and the bass drum kinda sounds like an electronic drum at times); someone at Unique Leader HQ should loosen these guys up, and convince them that more is not always a good idea in death metal, and let's see how much damage they can cause next time out.



Featured Video

KELEVRA - "The Distance"

KELEVRA - "The Distance"

Latest Reviews