LORNA SHORE

The deathcore tag can be as divisive as any in a now confusingly broad metal world. But when bands have the self-evident originality and ingenuity that has propelled LORNA SHORE over the last few years, arguing over subgenre nomenclature is a total waste of time. After a handful of well-received and increasingly adventurous releases, the New Jersey quintet rocketed up the metal ladder in 2022 when "Pain Remains" was released to almost universal acclaim. If this was deathcore, and it probably was on some level, LORNA SHORE were pushing it to levels that few could have predicted when people were spitting fury about some of the dumb nonsense that emerged in the genre's name in the 20 or so years prior to this band's coming of age. "Pain Remains" was vast and undeniable: its songs were progressive, atmospheric and absurdly brutal, and the recruitment of Will Ramos as vocalist put the final seal on an evolution that started quietly but blossomed at the perfect moment. Nobody else was making metal records like this, and the fact that LORNA SHORE could back up their recorded prowess with equally impressive live shows was impossible to ignore. Still too heavy and deranged for more mainstream fans, their music had mutated into something thrillingly fresh and new, and huge success was the inevitable result.

Three years on, LORNA SHORE have done it again. "I Feel The Everblack Festering Within Me" makes no significant stylistic changes from the "Pain Remains" formula, but what it does, it does with even more bravado and brilliance. At times, listening to it feels like sprinting through a hail of bullets on the way to the gates of heaven (or possibly hell). At turns savage and uncompromising, at others wildly beautiful and elegant, the band's latest statement is overwhelming by design, and yet pointedly accessible in a way that music this heavy really isn't supposed to be. Witness the singles, "Oblivion", "Prison Of Flesh" and "Unbreakable": towering mini symphonies, drenched in orchestral and choral grandeur, but underpinned by insane performances from musicians who refuse to recognize the limits of their chosen genre.

Ramos, as ever, is a one-man whirlwind, his ridiculous arsenal of growls, screams and gargles escalating to previously unknown heights and depths. Again, the man's charisma just drips, like shimmering condensation from a venue ceiling. He has such inspiring material to work with, too: the blizzard-like and blackened death metal that drives most of these songs forward at an absurd pace, the breakdowns that feel like syncopated, collapsing buildings, and the interstitial, neo-classical passages that anticipate each crippling crescendo like tremulous calms before devastating storms, LORNA SHORE are so secure that they navigate it all with expert technicality, as if this crazed upgrade for modern metal is in any way normal. But it really isn't. "Pain Remains" was a game changer, but "I Feel The Everblack Festering Within Me" casually exists outside the game entirely.

The greatest moments here — and it's all great — are nothing short of miraculous. Cynics might say that LORNA SHORE's music is too clinical to be truly emotional, but the likes of "Death Can Take Me" and "Glenwood" grind that argument to dust under the sole of a giant skate shoe. Dramatic and powerful, these are songs that offer so much more than the modern metal average, and with many of the elemental things that metalheads expect nudged to their absolute pinnacle. The production is necessarily immaculate, because LORNA SHORE are palpably aware of their own potential, and if this music doesn't resound around arenas and stadium at some point in the not-too-distant future, there really is no justice.

Like most great records, "I Feel The Everblack Festering Within Me" demands to be listened to without distraction, but in reality, it is virtually impossible to listen to something as overpowering as the closing "Forevermore" any other way. The whole, jaw-dropping enterprise rolls over the listener like a high-speed, futuristic tsunami of cutting-edge weaponry and exhilarating, cathartic awe. There have been many great records released in 2025, but few that aim this high. Guaranteed to batter fans into blissful submission, LORNA SHORE have met the moment and produced something really special and manifestly superior here. World domination might be tricky to pull off when making this much noise, but it's no more than this astonishing piece of work deserves.