Lorna Shore. If you’ve heard of them, you’ll know they’ve been at the forefront of extreme metal for the past 5 years. If you haven’t heard of them, its about time you stopped living under a rock. Songs like Into the Hellfire and the Pain Remains trilogy really pushed the boundaries of what the human voice can achieve, and demonstrated instrumental prowess and song writing that brought a level of emotion that its hard to believe such aggressive music could achieve.

But now, 3 years after Pain Remains, they have returned to offer up a new masterclass in cinematic brutality. I Feel the Everblack Festering Within Me is Lorna Shores fifth album, releasing on the 12th of September.

Opening with Prison Of Flesh, the New Jersey quintet brings the album in with brilliantly ominous synth strings. Building tension with rounds of machine gun like drum volleys, before exploding into a classic deathcore sound, peppered with choral chops that fade in and out. Prison Of Flesh serves as a great reminder of what Lorna Shore does best, and what to expect from the next nine songs, even managing to fit in some absolutely filthy vocal rips reminiscent of Into the Hellfire’s now infamous breakdown. This is followed by their first single off the album, Oblivion, a song that takes its inspiration from the sci-fi epic Interstellar. Forging an unforgiving rhythmic path at the hands of bassist Michael Yaeger and drummer Austin Archey, before slowing down with a brief respite of cosmic synth.

Offering a run time of a little over 1 hour across ten tracks the album explores Doom (The game) styled grinding riffs and synth-y bass in songs like War Machine. Emotive guitar work in the likes of Glenwood, in which vocalist Ramos delves into his estrangement with his father. All the way to immense cinematic grandiose in songs like In Darkness, and the near 10 minute epic, Forevermore. This is all underpinned by a relentless thunder of bass and drums, that carry Adam De Micco’s soaring guitar lines. All while being complimented by fantastical orchestral backings, courtesy of Andrew O’Connor, that wouldn’t feel out of place in a Dark Souls game (another one for the nerds out there). On top of this utterly inspiring instrumentation, Ramos proves once more that he’s by far one of the most capable voices in metal. Combining an unmatched ferocity and demon-like screaming, with an ability to stir feelings in even the most stoic of listeners.

I Feel the Everblack Festering Within Me is a blistering, full force, triumph of extreme metal. Building upon the musical storytelling that Lorna Shore have refined in Pain Remains, they have crafted a selection of songs that are imbued with both unparalleled brutality, and soul touching emotion. Adding to an already immense back catalogue, it will be sure to please existing fans and newcomers alike. Lorna Shores latest work will undoubtedly serve to push the genre to new heights, and the band themselves to even greater success.