OV SULFUR
‘Endless’
Century Media Records

Photo credit: Anabel DFlux

Deathcore may never completely shake its reputation as metal’s knuckle-dragging lowest common denominator. But there are certainly a fair number of bands that have broken free of the flagship curb-stomp breakdown/piglet stuffed into a garbage disposal vocalizing/chock-a-block, extremity for extremity’s sake compositional traits that leave so many prospective fans shrugging their shoulders and tuning out.

Take, for example, SHADOW OF INTENT or, most notably, LORNA SHORE, who have surrounded their blackened tumult and staggering brutality with symphonic/cinematic, often majestic flourishes. THE ACACIA STRAIN brought creepy-crawl doom, industrial weight and towering scale into the mix. WHITECHAPEL softened the blow with resonant clean vocals, somber melodic moments and stirring, introspective thematics. The list goes on – at least to a degree.

Well, you can add Las Vegas quintet OV SULFUR to this modest pile. With its second album, ‘Endless,’ the band shows a definite knack for taking deathcore precepts and running counter to them, at times with some of the elements noted above while at others by offering surprising, even jarring contrasts on tunes that echo STONE SOUR, ALICE IN CHAINS or ‘Black Album’ era METALLICA. It makes for a wide-ranging effort that shows a bit of daring – and largely pulls it off.

At its, umm, core, and like the others above, the prime mover for OV SULFUR is brute force. ‘Endless’ is resoundingly heavy throughout on the strength of Chase Wilson and Christian Becker’s bulked up riffs and grooves, Ryan “Leviathvn” Rivard’s thundering herd drumming and Ricky Hoover formidable roars and ulcerated gutturals.

And the super slo-mo breakdowns here – on “Forlorn,” “Dread,” “Bleak” or “Evermore”– are truly brontosaurian. Producer Josh Schroeder wrings every ounce out of the band’s already weighty delivery, as he has done with LORNA SHORE, SIGNS OF THE SWARM, MENTAL CRUELTY, etc.

But with ‘Endless,’ OV SULFURa lso has taken the melodic inclinations it dabbled with on the 2023 full-length debut ‘The Burden Ov Faith’ and given them greater prominence, not only in the anthemic clean choruses and richer orchestrations, but with a bit of honest-to-goodness balladry. And while that might seem a calculating – or suicidal – move, it does provide surprisingly poignant, even vulnerable moments, which is certainly a rarity in deathcore circles.

By far the better of these is the dramatic “Wither.” Sandwiched between the blackened/symphonic histrionics of “Vast Eternal” and “Evermore,” “Wither” makes for a gut-wrenching turn. With its straight up hard rock ballad presentation and grieving clean vocals, Hoover mourns the loss of his grandmother, whose voice can be heard in phone call snippets where she wishes him Merry Christmas and such. It sends legit chills

Album closer “Endless/Loveless,” though, comes off as a textbook power ballad:acoustic guitars, melodramatic choruses, haunting clean harmonies, strings, “loving you is like holding on to water” romanticism, wispy lead motifs, all building to a metallic lead break and soaring finish. Where “Wither” is profoundly, genuinely sad, “Endless/Loveless” makes for something of a limp, sappy finish.

Loss and longing are constant themes on ‘Endless,’ as OV SULFUR steps beyond the full-throated anti-religiousity of the debut while not entirely ignoring it, as evidenced by lines like “You’ll have no God to run to” and “Nobody listens to our prayers.” And while that all becomes rather obvious as the overuse of Hoover’s clean vocals here bring an air of KILLSWITCH ENGAGE-like predictability, it’s still preferable to the standard-issue deathcore tropes – which are often just as predictable, and predictably awful, in their own right.

3.0 Out Of 5.0