Retribution by Searching Serenity is my favorite heavy release of 2023 so far and has already been fast-tracked to my Top Albums of the Year list. Somehow, being a huge heavy music fan, I'd never even heard Searching Serenity's music until this week. But thanks to the wonders of social interaction and a community of metal fans who share music they love and support the indie music scene, now I have.
Let me tell you right now, Retribution is extremely heavy, mixing melodic deathcore with a heavy dose of slamming deathcore. Got it? Yeah, this thing is filthy and sprinkled with extreme brutality. Vocally, you have the fairly typical deathcore gutturals and yells, but there’s also something here that reminds me of an amalgamation of J Mann and Waylon Reavis of Mushroomhead (I'm dating myself a little bit here). I know that’s a bit of a strange comparison when talking about deathcore, but it’s something that comes to my mind while listening to this album, and I think it’s pretty cool. Musically, there are heavy slams and breakdowns, yet there is also some incredibly melodic writing woven throughout the album.
I think fans of all forms of extreme music from slam to brutal death metal to melodic deathcore and even deathgrind should dig this. I'd recommend this to anyone into bands like Distant, Vulvodynia, Guttural Slug, Party Cannon, Ingested, Impending Doom, Broken Flesh, Mohler, GLAE, Mangled Carpenter, and Nyctalopia. Just to name a few.
Ultimately, Retribution is ruthless, and in many ways, a beautiful album. I love the mixture of vicious and melodic songwriting powdered throughout. Good stuff. Highly recommended.
Tracklist:
1. Eternal Suffering 02:02
2. The Curse Of Ymir 03:01
3. The Hidden Village Of Light 04:37
4. The Lands Between 05:12
5. Winds Of Peace 04:02
6. The Shrine Of Fire 03:28
7. The Dark Tournament 04:13
8. Fight Of The Valkyries 03:34
9. Hives Of Nekravol 04:46
10. The Ashen One 04:10
11. My Prayer 03:39
Searching Serenity - The Ashen One (Official Music Video)
Purchase Retribution on Bandcamp.
Listen on Streaming Sites (Songwhip Link): https://songwhip.com/searchingserenity/retribution
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