lol@ people saying this sounds like groove metal. It was surprisingly fast and thrashy, which I liked. I've noticed while more bands are drop tuning lower than hell, there are also a few bands which have chosen to play in E or Eb standard, which I totally support (some stuff on the last Revocation EP could be played entirely on an E standard six string.) Finally, the production was a little tame for a suffo song, but it wasn't nearly as bad as everyone made it out to be. I mean, relatively speaking, compered to some of the god awful prog shit out there, it doesn't sound too bad. The mix and EQ is good, but I'll agree the tone could have been better, and an analog recording would have been much better overall.

That trailer sounds way better than the released full track. A bit more stoked now, which I was't really before.

?? were you talking about Suffo playing in E or Eb standard? They play down in C# if you were. But, yeah I get what you're saying.

CF_Mono, where are you reading people saying that is sounds like groove metal? from all the responses here.. it's a complaint of the LACK of their signature groove and that it's much faster in the typical tech death style

I'll entertain the possibility that this song isn't necessarily indicative of how the rest will be, although an entire album in this kind of uptempo style would be an interesting choice to me. Going off of the songlengths (Beginning of Sorrow notwithstanding,) it's a comparatively shorter album so there is that to take into account. We'll get more of the picture and perhaps at least one more song as the release date gets closer. At the end of the day this is still a quality taste of the album as far as I'm concerned and if the sleeker production is its only real albatross once it hits and we all pass judgement, it's still a solid 21st century Suffocation album by that regard.

https://soundcloud.com/nuclearblastreco ... -cycles-of

New song. Cycles of Suffering. I like it more than I do the other one. The riffing style of the two songs are definitely the most "modern" sounding Suffocation stuff since the reunion. I think it's Culross's drumming too; it's such a different style from Mike Smith's that it completely changes the feel of a song compared to how Mike would do it.

Love the technical aspects and fills that remind me of their 2006 album, its a furious song that would shit on anything that they recorded on Blood Oath. Dave Culross has already proven that he can be just as great as Mike Smith, you've gotta love his skill with the double bass and the constant changing of the drums. This is going to be one of the best death metal albums of this year.

Veracs and Subrick are both right, Culross's presence is really notable here. This is definitely more Suffocationy than "As Grace Descends", but there's an entirely different character to how Dave Culross drums in comparison to Mike Smith. Dave's more "normal" I guess, since Mike is well known for his weird, off-kilter timings and atypical fills and whatnot, whereas with Dave you'll hear more straightfoward blasts and double bass patterns more frequently. That said, they both own hard, they're just different beasts with a different signature flair.

For the record, I'd rather have Dave Culross on board if only for his attitude.

After listening to the two songs again I really do think that they specifically changed their riff style to accommodate Culross's drumming. The riffing is very "modern" in comparison to even Blood Oath, and it definitely better compliments Culross's style than it would Mike Smith's style.

Not an issue with me considering Despise the Sun is just as good as anything else during their first incarnation, and it's by far the simplest thing they'd done up to that point. Basically I'm even more pumped for this album now.

Wow, the mixing and the sound of all the instruments sounds decidedly better on the trailer than on that first track released last year, and the new track is fantastic. I hear that classic Suffo riffage in this one. I'm excited for this release now.

Well, I'm sorry, I guess I read a lot of comments like that on soundcloud or youtube with people saying the song sounded groovy and/or composed on higher tuned guitars.

Cycles of Suffering just put this in the mandatory pile.

I'll say! I didn't care much for Blood Oath and the art for this wasn't giving me hopes, but man that song kicked my ass. Reminds me of Despise the Sun a bit, but that's probably because of Culross.

Far happier with this 2nd song. All my complaints have been addressed, there is some suffo-signature groove... the production sounds more on line with what I expected them to sound like. Though it is still faster paced overall I'm much happier. I'm now on board.

Now that's a song I am proud to call a Suffocation song! The skeleton riff throughout the track is not only crushing but also engaging. I'm so hooked on it that I can't stop bobbing my head to it. I agree with what some of you have mentioned about the drums. They stand out while the other instruments are doing their thing...I can hear more varied fills and the blastbeats are well placed too. Good job, Suffo.

I think Dave Culross inspired new life in this band. The style of the guitar riffs in "Cycles of Suffering" isn't that different from the self-titled; but since Dave Culross has a more varied arsenal and is faster paced, he gives the rest of the band more opportunity to make their songs (edit:interesting) engaging.

I prefer the earlier released track. Cycles of Suffering isn't bad but it's very predictable and self titled sounding. I think they need to change it up at this stage and incorporate different elements like Napalm Death, maybe not as extreme but certainly headed in that direction would be good. I hope there is enough variety to keep my interested because although Blood Oath was good, songs tended to blend into one another and be mostly forgettable.

Have to disagree with you totally which I know I'm not alone on that. But also I really didn't care for the last Napalm Death album cause of the incorporating different elements and the over use of some groove that really did sound like korn to me. So i rather a band retread over and over again than add new elements cause to me.... 90% of the time leads to failure.

I don't like it since all I see is an evil version of Dr. Zoidberg. But maybe that's just me, anyway.

maybe the album will have a 2 second intro of "wubwubwubwub"

Not bad, but not yet amazing. I don't know. Something's lacking....

I dig it.

Wish they got Doug Bohn again instead. There's this part in "The Invoking" I just can't figure how the hell the guy did it. Oh well.

I agree pretty much with all the above statements regarding the artwork being terrible. I much prefer hight-detail, hand drawn album covers so this latest Suffo record would come across as pretty generic to anyone not in the know. Of the tracks I've heard, "Cycles Of Suffering" is really sick, but does sound very modern for Suffocation. Prefer the old "raw" sounding death metal production, but I'm liking Frank's vocals on these new tracks.

Cycles of Suffering was good, that other one not so much...anyway the last 2 Suffo records werent that great, hope this will change that

It leaked. Really enjoying it. Gonna download it on amazon on tuesday.

Got the album on right now. Very good piece of business from the band.

Certainly an improvement from Blood Oath if you ask me. Sullen Days is damn awesome.

It's better than the last two, but falls short of Souls to Deny for me.

I'll still spin it now and again.

^ I've spun it a couple of times. Pretty strong album compared to Blood Oath. I wouldn't compare this to 'Souls to Deny' or the earlier stuff because I look at that as a different era. That's just me. Will post more thoughts later as I listen to this piece over the weekend.

The past couple of days I have been spinning Pierced From Within and Breeding The Spawn. So its safe to say I am definitely in the Suffocation state of mind right now. I have read nothing but good things about Pinnacle Of Bedlam. I can't wait to get my hands on this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQthrTOIw6s

My full thoughts on the record. Needless to say, I fucking love it.

Wouldve been a good cover too, except for that font.

The album title font, much like the single title font on that art, is pretty terrible.

Thanks for posting. That was a very informative review and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

The font looks like a metalcore logo.

I don't get all the hate for Blood Oath. That's like my second favorite Suffocation album. There were several amazing moments in Blood Oath, especially the songs "Blood Oath", "Dismal Dream" and "Cataclysmic Purification" (which they played live last Saturday). Yeah, I got to see them play live a few days ago and they played "As Grace Descends" live as well.

I'd personally much prefer Mike Smith drumming for Suffocation, since he was a huge part of the early innovative sound of this band and I think he's one of the best drummers in death metal. His style is very unique and relentlessly powerful and pummeling, which I love.

As for the new track, I don't think it's that great really. It would easily be the worst song on Blood Oath if it were on that record. But, I'll definitely be listening to the rest of the album very soon, so we'll see. Suffocation also said they'd be coming back around and playing more songs off the new album in a few months, so I look forward to that.

I think this is better than the shitfest that was Blood Oath, but I still don't like it as much as the S/T or Souls to Deny, it is certainly good album. I'm surprised by the amount of hate the S/T gets these days, it was pretty well received when it came out, and it has the off kilter grittiness to it which this album lacks for me. It's luckily not a boring album like the last one, but it's a bit too clean for what I like in my Suffo. I don't particularly miss Smith, I found him a bit obnoxious with his blast beat timings from time to time, but this guy is definitely not my pick for a replacement, he's a bit too straight forward, would have preferred Doug Bohn myself, but not that my unrealistic day dreaming means anything. This a good, respectable effort, which doesn't really impress in any particular way.

I don't think Suffocation have released anything that would even remotely qualify as a "shitfest", I think all of their albums are at least solid/decent. But, that just has a lot to do with me loving their style so much.