I don’t know why I waited this long to finally give Ulcerate a listen, but I really wish that I had started paying attention to them sooner.  The Destroyers of All is one of the most unique death metal releases that I have heard in years, and a quick sampling of their prior works turns up ample evidence to support the back catalogue being equally impressive.  Ulcerate are clearly a death metal band, but they refuse to play by the established rules of the genre.  This is sort of a throwback to the early days when the rules were still being written, and you could count on hearing at least a few death metal releases each year that really pushed the envelope.

Ulcerate’s unconventional approach is apparent within the first few minutes of The Destroyers of All.  Album opener “Burning Skies” features a balancing act between blistering drumming, and abstract almost wandering guitar work.  This approach proves to be the foundation of Ulcerate’s sound.  Throughout the album,  the guitars have a way of locking in with the drums at points, only to meander off in a completely unexpected direction, often meeting up with the drumming later in the song to deliver a surprisingly direct burst of rock-solid death metal.  “Cold Becoming” starts off slow with a halting, almost spasmodic intro that calls to mind a newly animated zombie twitching as it rises from the earth.  This intro is artfully blended into the body of the song, which ends up being one of the most direct and aggressive tracks on the album.  It’s really a great example of the way Ulcerate build and release tension within their songs, and I think that it is their mastery of this principal that allows them to keep the listener engaged while working with such an abstract sound.

Paul Kelland delivers his vocals in low, but well enunciated death growl.  The vocals are probably the most commonplace element of Ulcerate’s sound, but they tend to be well placed and work along with Jamie Saint Merat’s drums to anchor the songs.  Saint Meret’s drumming deserves special mention, as his versatility is important here.  The drumming is often pretty straight forward, but when the song calls for it Saint Merat is more than capable of making full use of his kit and taking things to a more intricate level.   I found myself being led through The Destroyers of All by the vocals and the drums; a direct contrast to most metal albums where the guitars and vocals are front and center.  The dissonant riffing is still huge part of Ulcerate’s sound, but the guitars seem almost like they are working in what would be the negative space if we were talking about visual art.    

The Destroyers of All is a monster of an album, and one that I think all death metal fans should hear.  Of course everybody won’t like Ulcerate, but the fact that they are doing something different means that anybody with an interest in the genre should at least be aware of it.  Indirectly, these guys fit in with bands like Portal, The Chasm and Mitochondrion.  None of those bands sound the same, but they all approach death metal from a unique angle, and all of them maintain the genre’s trademark heaviness while weaving in a ton of atmosphere.  In the end, The Destroyers of All is a difficult album to accurately describe, but despite its break from convention it is an album that I found fairly easy to get into.

TRACK LISTING

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*Comments:

1.  Burning Skies
2.  Dead Oceans
3.  Cold Becoming
4.  Beneath
5.  The Hollow Idols
6.  Omens
7.  The Destroyers of All

Total playing time: 52:49

Release Date: January 25th, 2011
Label: Willowtip Records

Ulcerate - The Destroyers of All

Reviewer: Garett

October 15, 2011