EP Review: Suffer – Soul From Flesh
Reviewed by Oli Gonzalez
It’s safe to say that the UK underground metal scene is in a healthy state. Especially when you examine Suffer, the bruising deathcore force from Wolverhampton! Beginning life in 2018, they’ve toured extensively in their home country, citing seasoned acts such as Decapitated and Signs Of The Swarm as bands they’ve supported. They’re no strangers to the European circuit either, and will continue to spread their wings across the continent this summer with their names on festival posters in Germany and Belgium. They’ll return to Europe riding the momentum of their latest 5 track opus “Soul From Flesh”. Let me tell you, Europe better be ready!
We got a taste of their latest EP when they released unmitigated levels of carnage with the devastating ‘Pendulum Of Vengeance’ earlier this year! We’ve never doubted their ability to drop the hammer and unleash wave after wave of brutality. Though this track – and the rest of the EP – demonstrates their ability to blend crushing heaviness with refined technicality and more sophisticated compositional skills than the genre would normally dictate. Some bands fall into the trap of throwing slam after slam at you hodge-podge style without any consideration for build and progression, and try to slap the label of ‘heavy’ on it.
The end product being something void of real conviction. Instead, Suffer are able to release this primitive aggression slowly and in controlled bursts, demonstrating maturity and an understanding of human psychology. Additionally, they intelligently deploy synths and other background tracks to dictate the austere mood and sense of urgency. ‘Desolated Dreams’ provides perhaps the best example of this, taking a play from Lorna Shore’s books by creating a symphonic undertone to proceedings within a song that takes on a more fluid and non-canonical song structure. This is only enhanced with the dissonant and unsettling distorted guitar passages. All this creates tension that can finally be released in cathartic explosions, like in the climax to ‘Self Immolation’, with a breakdown so immense it could topple buildings!
Do the tracks run the risk of sounding a little too similar to one another? Perhaps. However, at only five tracks or twenty minutes (give or take), “Soul From Flesh” gives a bite size easy-to-ingest sample of their undeniable potential. Fans of Whitechapel and Lorna Shore will be more than satiated with this rather delicious offering!
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