Album Rating: 4.0

"I found the "plodding" sections most interesting here over the ferocious bits, simply because of how creatively St. Merat fills empty space."



this but for the entire discog

Album Rating: 3.0

yeah, this isn’t my fave Ulcerate but Row’s crit kinda does sound like “me like heavy, where the heavy?” (paraphrasing!) … Stare was better at the consistent atmos / spacing thing tho admittedly so hmm 🤔

Album Rating: 4.0

I should probably revisit everything Ulcerate, I did not give Stare the attention it probably deserves and I really wanna revisit Destroyers and Vermis

Album Rating: 2.5

Ambition wasn't the proper word, because they certainly make every attempt to be as grandiose as possible. But what this album lacks in ferocity isn't compensated for anywhere else. My main issue, and this was a big point of the review, is the lack of memorability. I think the entire album plods, not just the sections where they taper off with clean guitars and cymbals. It's soulless in the sense that I find the songwriting sterile and nothing stands out. It sounds inhuman, and while that may have been their intention, I simply don't find it very interesting. That's just my opinion though.

Rowhaus, I like you but you're just kinda talking shite now. This is the hookiest and most immediately memorable thing they've done. Don't wanna presume intentions, but that criticism, when contrasted with your praise of their previous work, reads like you're actively trying to dislike this.

You're also completely contradicting what you said about "unwavering intensity", "gratuitous ferosity" and being "too ambitious for its own good" in the review by saying it's the complete opposite now. If you're gonna hammer out a negative write up on the day of release to pinch the default review slot, at least make sure your thoughts on it are consistent.

Album Rating: 4.5

"This is the hookiest and most immediately memorable thing they've done."

dafuq lol no it's not

this is about as boring as Neurosis and I'm sure they put a hell of a lot of effort in their music but damn it I can't stand it lol

Album Rating: 2.5

I was referring to the more "raw" ferocity you find in prior releases, whereas this feels more sterile and predictable. Also, "novelty" or "inventiveness" would've been better words in my prior comment, not ambition. That was my mistake. I still think "unwavering intensity" and "gratuitous ferocity" are perfect ways to describe this overall, even when they venture into clean territory identical to Stare. It's too ambitious in that they try to be overtly dark and oppressive, throwing as much sonic bombardment at you as possible, but ultimately it's not memorable. At least not for me. Frankly, we're getting into semantics here that I don't feel like jumping through hoops to explain. People are just gonna bash me anyway.

Album Rating: 4.0

I've been rebumbing EIF and Destroyers today and tbh, yeah, those albums are hookier than this. This goes for a different kind of catchy tho, much more in the vein of a post-metal band

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

nahh i'm with jac this is def their most hook-y and immediate, or at least as much as stare but the extra ~prettiness~ here gives it the edge. their early stuff is p dense i feel and took way more listens to peel back the layers

Album Rating: 4.0

Are you sure its not that your ears are more used to Ulcerate now and its easier to digest what they're doing on a first glance? I guess I should rebump this too, but on revisit the early albums felt as open as this to me. This is more post-metally, which I suppose is softer stylistically than their early albums, but I can totally see someone catching onto the grooving of We Are Nil before taking the time to digest something like Undying as an Apparition. Still can't understand liking early-cerate and disliking this tho

That's possible I suppose but I hear a marked difference in how their new stuff establishes themes. The density is still there methinks, but while their earlier stuff took longer to flesh an idea out, this and Stare present them more or less resolved from the get go and build on/vary them.

I think the quiet bits are the best examples of this, because on EIF and Destroyers you tend to get fragments of chords that make up the riffs in the heavier parts, whereas the very first lick you get on this is a complete, self-contained melody. I also think JSM's drumming lends this a hook-y vibe because he's more inclined to settle into groove that's still accented with all his cymbal magic.

FTR my comment wasn't a slight at their early stuff because EIF is my favourite album ever lol. They just have a different approach to establishing and developing ideas that make it easier to latch onto something now.

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

maybe? but i go back and listen to those and i still get dizzy by some of the songwriting. i still have trouble getting into vermis and (lesser extent) shrines. the melody here helps for sure but it's the extra repetition in the riffs and ideas that makes it more immediate to me.



edit: jac beat me to it and said it better than i. agreed ahrd

Album Rating: 4.5

Yeah this is definitely the most easily digestible Ulcerate album, think that might be why I like it the most. It's so fucking heavy and intense but there's also a sense of melody and dare I say majesty to it.

Album Rating: 4.0

Hmm okay no I definitely see your point Pon, I just think the JSM captivating drumming moments happen on EIF too, but that may also be that once I honed in on JSM as the main character of the band is when they opened up for me and I'm just extrapolating from my experiences.



@trilo, Shrines is, I think, the densest Ulcerate by a mile, and Vermis never did much for me. I kind of view those two as transitory albums between EIF/Destroyers and Stare/this, I was moreso talking about EIF in particular, I think that album is actually pretty damn catchy/groovy

Album Rating: 4.5

It's getting all philosophical in here

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

hmm EIF doesn't strike me as hook-y tbh. definitely some parts (t/t!!!) but EIF is like high riffs-per-minute and they're all amazing, where as these latest two tend to have a couple riffs or ideas that take up significant chunks of a track's runtime e.g. ashen hearts is almost half made up of that opening melody and then another ~1:30 is the outro riff. stuff like that makes the tracks easy to come back to



destroyers i have a hard time judging in this context because cold becoming was my lifeline for that album lmao. it was so impenetrable but i held on for that track and now it's one of their best albums to me.

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

Pon said it perfectly describing the different approaches to songwriting, gotta agree 100%.

Album Rating: 4.8

Row ily but yeah Jac is right, you are actively trying to hate this. Look at your profile name. You just hate Ulcerate and that will never change. Which is all well and good but you could never write an objective review for them lol.

Album Rating: 5.0

Rules [3]

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

EIF isn't hook-y? idk about that

the main riff in the t/t, several in drown within especially at the end, the lead riffs in soullessness embraced and tyrant, the end of we are nil