...of the Dark Light

Suffocation’s new record keeps the same style their reunion albums had (2002-present) but at the same time shows some improvements in the production, while the composition remains astonishingly dark, complex, aggressive and well thought as always. Even if it's not perfect -vocals aren't as strong as they were- it's still a pretty enjoyable album. The addition of a new guitarist instead of Guy Marchais gives the album a fresh feeling, specially in the solo section. He is definitely a gifted player but doesn't display excessive wankery, his playing sounds more obscure than technical.

In terms of composition, we have the same old Suffocation: brutal, technical but not so much and definitely evil and demented. There's blasts beats everywhere, heavy breakdowns and perfectly well written solos. Gutturals delivered by Frank Mullen have changed over the years but still are a trademark sound from the band, just as the Suffo blast or Terrance’s solos and riffs. The new guitarist’s solos are a little bit more academic; I heard some sweep picking I bet it's really hard to play but he manages to do it in a gloomy, gnarly fashion that fits the rest of the music perfectly. Production wise, it still sounds pretty modern like the other reunion albums, but this time everything sounds “less digital” than on their previous record; particularly the drumming, that is superb. Drums have a nice acoustic sound, you can hear changes in the dynamics of the player, it sounds human and not over-compressed, which I consider a big plus. The same goes with guitars, that feature a nice, sharp and dirty tube distortion. Bass is present all over the mix, with a nice metallic tone on the high end, also with some slight distortion that perfectly anchors the guitars with the percussive section. Excellent mix.

Overall I wouldn't say this is the band's best record, but it isn't that much below their golden era records, which also speaks well about the band being consistent in each records quality. Pick it up if you're a fan of the genre, after all this band is its godfather. You won't regret.