Style: brutal death metal, progressive death metal, technical death metal (harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Hate Eternal, Cattle Decapitation, Job for a Cowboy, Rivers of Nihil
Country: Oregon, United States
Release date: 26 January 2024
From the very first guitar driven musings of opener “Shame and its Afterbirth,” one gets the sense that Suffer & Become is an album that needed to be made, as though Vitriol and its frontman Kyle Rasmussen were a cyst taut with all the anger and anxieties of the modern age ready to burst at slightest prodding. From each track, wickedly technical riffage and densely metaphorical lyrics spew forth propelled by the sheer rage of Rasmussen’s guitar and vocal deliveries, the absolutely gravitational drum performance by Matt Kilner of Nithing and Inquisitous Deeds, and the hefty bass and backing vocals of Adam Roethlisberger. While the pure density of riffs across this album is quite unlike anything—the nearest comparison I can draw would be Hate Eternal if Erik Rutan took a nap in a rapid evolution chamber for a few thousand years—the album toes the fine line between intensity and incomprehensibility.
As its title suggests, Suffer & Become is as transcendent as it is brutal, and it is from that friction that some of the best moments on this album are born. The solos on tracks like “Shame and its Afterbirth” and the “The Isolating Lie of Learning Another” (Did I mention this album has the hardest track names?) are such moments where Rasmussen’s almost desperate style of lead work hits the listener like the dawn after a long night of contemplating suicide. Be it the neoclassical sweeping that closes out “Shame…” or the aching upper fretboard stabs that occur in “The Isolating Lie…” Rasmussen treats each chance at a solo as though it were his swan song. Even the more chaotic solos a la Kerry King have a propulsion that pushes hard and fast into the song’s next passage, a regular failing of shred based solos. I could prattle on about the lead work on this album for a very long time, but to put it shortly it is refreshing to hear leads so unique in a genre as convergent as technical death metal. Besides, the leadwork is not the only thing providing this album’s sublime qualities. Tracks like “Survival’s Careening Inertia” and “He Will Fight Savagely” (Again with those song titles!) both feature building song structures where the awe comes not from single elements but from the heft of the band operating as a whole, much in the same way that several tracks off of Rivers of Nihil’s Where Owls Know My Name operate.
Working in tandem with the instrumentals are the album’s lyrics. While Rasmussen and Roethlisberger enunciate just enough for me to catch the odd word or two, I had to follow along with the lyrics to get the full picture, and I am sure glad that I did. Those familiar with my review style know how little weight I often place on lyrics, so it takes something special to make me pay attention. That being said, every single line features a unique and vivid turn of phrase that I can’t help but ponder long after I stop listening. The track “Nursing from the Mother Wound” is particularly notable for this; I’ll never again view disdain as anything other than a “burdening mantle.”
Ultimately, Suffer & Become delivers the full package. The harmony between its themes, lyrics, and instrumentals, the gorgeous artwork, and clearly meticulous effort that went into its creation all combine to create what is without a doubt my favorite album of 2024, a true testament to the genre of death metal and of music as a whole as a cohesive art form. The theme of evolution through hardship is one often attempted in the metal genre, but never before has it been so fully realized so truthfully and vividly. Vitriol has crafted a work that truly challenges the artistic boundaries of technical death metal. In a genre often obsessed with complexity for its own sake, this is a rare reminder of the raw emotion and storytelling that make metal an enduring art form. A masterpiece like this doesn’t deserve to be missed—it demands to be heard.
Recommended tracks: Shame and its Afterbirth, The Isolating Lie of Learning Another
You may also like: Afterbirth, Hideous Divinity, Black Crown Initiate
Final verdict: 10/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Label: Century Media Records – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website
Vitriol is:
– Adam Roethlisberger (bass, vocals)
– Kyle Rasmussen (guitars, vocals)
– Matt Kilner (drums)
– Stephen Ellis (guitars)
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