Release Date- 24th March 2023
Label - Century Media
Words- Tony Bliss
Although the emergence of deathcore inspired a particularly bone-headed and bellyaching response from metal purists, its straightforward refusal to die and current resurgence means that, over twenty years on from its inception, the scene is now cast in a fresh light. Indeed, as a fresh-faced batch of new bands look to drag this sound into the future and produce perhaps the first genuine threat to the metal mainstream (although Lorna Shore look to be halfway there already), Ov Sulfur are the latest great white hope to adopt this far-beyond-deathcore approach - the difference is, with a sound both familiar and solely theirs, they’ve already leapt a couple of miles ahead of the competition with The Burden Ov Faith.
As ‘Stained In Rot’ erupts into a riot of cudgelling grooves and guttural menace, some might be quick to assume that these ten tunes will merely deliver business-as-usual blasts ‘n’ breakdowns. Nothing could be further from the truth, with following cut ‘Befouler’ peeling off a cleanly sung chorus of Killswitch-sized proportions (indeed, former KSE frontman Howard Jones even lends his gold-plated pipes to ‘Wide Open’ a few tracks on), hints of the bands more sophisticated approach coming into full bloom before Slaughter To Prevails Alex Terrible comes crashing in for a truly disgusting final minute of gargling and spitting violence.
Up next, the richly melodic ‘Death Ov Circumstance’ and ‘Earthen’ hurl out yet more brooding, barrel-chested hooks and gleaming lead guitars, and a grimly grandiose edge brings a Behemoth-esque drama to ‘I Apostate’ (the lyrics of which nod towards Robert Eggers modern folk-horror masterpiece The VVitch for extra cool points) and the Christ-slaughtering blast-beats of ‘The Inglorious Archetype’, their sound equidistant between symphonic black metal and riff-centric deathcore with dynamics to spare, all manner of swelling strings and orchestration lending an atmospheric depth and shape-shifting flair to these stately mini-epics
It’s true therefore that whilst The Burden Ov Faith wields the sort of spine-shattering beatdowns that would have most deathcore chancers weeping into their snapbacks, and Hoover can clearly wretch up all manner of demonic snorting and shrieking with the best of them, these songs are anything but generic, and every second is executed with a finesse and artistry simply beyond the bands around them. And they save the best for last, the closing title track’s central vocal trade-off with Lindsay Schoolcraft (ex-Cradle of Filth) the finest example of Ov Sulfur’s songwriting potency, whilst still slamming impeccably hard. All the more impressive for a debut record, The Burden Ov Faith is an ungodly miasma of gnarly treats, a gleefully unhallowed racket, and an utter trumph.
8/10
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