Do you miss early/mid-00s ‘Myspace’ deathcore? Still jamming All Shall Perish, As Blood Runs Black, Embrace the End, The Red Chord, Salt the Wound, Knights of the Abyss, Animosity, The Number 12 Looks Like You, Rose Funeral, My Bitter End, and Dead to Fall?

Well, Im right there with you- that era was my mutha-fucking jam. But Maryland’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra has got you boi.

From the “eeee-yough”  and first notes of the opening track “GGO”, goofy samples, and classic 00s song titles like “The Difference Between You and Me Is I Never Got Caught”, “Gage Lanza 2: Return of the Red Hammer” and “I Never Believed in Magic ‘Til My Dog Turned into a Snake”,  the early deathcore influence is hot and heavy and ninja kicks you right in the face, and keeps kicking until the short 30 minute or so affair is over.

Album is self produced, with a final touch and master from Mychal Soto (Peeling Flesh), and it sounds nostalgic as fuck, adding to the retro vibe that’s already hammered home with the galloping, slicing melodic riffs and leads and three pronged guitar work of course, old school breakdowns (and pre-breakdowns!).

Tracks like ” I Can’t Save You” (with Matt McDougal from Boundaries), “Gage Lanza 2: Return of the Red Hammer”, “All I Feel Is Cold” and “Mithrandir” have the throwback vocals, shreddy structures, and gait that will make fans of the style grin from ear to ear. No orchestration, no demonic pig squeals or snarls  (there are some ‘reeeeeee’s though).

And the album never outstays its welcome, being over before you know it, but not before delivering a solid album for those that were front and center for those early Summer Slaughter and Sounds of the Underground tours back in the early and mid 00s.

[Visit the band's website]

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