Review: Lorna Shore – I Feel the Everblack Festering Within Me

Artwork by: Zac Shiffer

Style: Symphonic Deathcore, Deathcore, Symphonic Metal (Harsh Vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Distant, To The Grave, Psycho-Frame, Shadow of Intent, Whitechapel, Brand of Sacrifice
Country: United States (New Jersey)
Release date: 12 September 2025

Lorna Shore’s Pain Remains will likely be remembered as one of the most important deathcore—or perhaps metal—records of all time, period. While their 2021 EP …And I Return to Nothingness set the stage for the band’s rebirth with the barn-burning “To the Hellfire,” introducing new vocalist Will Ramos with a grandiose bang, Pain Remains’ arrival a year later would catapult the New Jerseyans into the upper echelons of metal. The conceptual “Pain Remains” trilogy (“Dancing Like Flames,” “After All I’ve Done, I’ll Disappear,” “In a Sea of Fire”) showed there was more to deathcore than brutal excess, and Ramos in particular became a lightning rod of conversation due to his affable charm, emotionally resonant writing, and unhinged vocal talents. Although Pain Remains took time to grow on me, the album has since become a genre favorite, and I’d recommend it to anyone who missed out on its arrival.

Now, we’re three years beyond the reach of Ramos’ debut LP, and since then, he and the band have been busy. I Feel the Everblack Festering Within Me may be Lorna Shore’s fifth full-length, but for all intents and purposes, it may as well be their sophomore—such was the efficacy of Pain Remains and Will Ramos’ emergence that, for many, it has rendered their previous catalog moot. The question on my mind thus became, “How have the band grown in the wake of Pain Remains?” Early forays with singles “Prison of Flesh” and “Glenwood” left me lukewarm—this all felt a touch too familiar—but I’ve long since learned never to judge an album by its singles. So, has my time with the entirety of I Feel the Everblack Festering Within Me proven fruitful? Is this another genre-defining opus from the deathcore darlings, or was I right to trust my initial reaction?

I Feel the Everblack Festering Within Me is without a doubt Lorna Shore: mammoth, maximalist deathcore replete with classical bombast and epic buildups alongside razor-sharp, skittering blackened riffs, and utterly relentless kitwork. And of course, the genre-required breakdowns: filthy, ignorant affairs wherein Ramos can showcase his laryngeal acrobatics against apocalyptic sonic obliteration. The first seven tracks, from “Prison of Flesh” to “Death Can Take Me” follow this template almost to a tee. Mini-breakdowns pepper the midpoints, like an appetizer before the band closes out the respective courses with a heaping helping of Disrespect ala Mode. These concluding breakdowns hit like an orbital strike, flattening the listener while Ramos goes insane-o-style, unleashing inhuman pig squeals, gurgles, and god only knows what else. There’s occasional switch-ups, breakdowns replaced by guitarist Adam De Micco’s twisting, emotive soloing (“In Darkness,” “Glenwood,” “Death Can Take Me,” “Forevermore”). They’re delightful moments that evoke the kind of heroism and adventure usually found in power metal and help empower Lorna Shore’s symphonic nature.

Unfortunately, these two stylistic playbooks do little to quiet the nagging sensation that I’ve been listening to a variation of the same song—which, by the end of the album’s sixty-seven minute runtime, has transitioned to full-on shouting. “Prison of Flesh” may as well be “Oblivion” which may as well be “Unbreakable” or “Death Can Take Me.” Flickers of color can be glimpsed within the everblack: take the hyper blackened leads and 80s synths in “Oblivion,” or “Lionheart’s” increased emphasis on epic choral elements courting a brief gang chant during a particularly tasty guitar melody. Yet there’s a “been there, done that” vibe throughout, and the tracks’ repetitive structuring makes escaping that gravity well particularly difficult. Even “Glenwood,” with lyrics rooted in Ramos’ personal experiences regarding his relationship with his father, loses impact due to this slavish devotion to formula. As my dad is fond of saying: “If everything’s an emergency, nothing is.” Well, if everything is maximal and bombastic and emotive, then eventually the experience becomes homogenized to the point of banality.

“War Machine” offers the first glimpse of something different, taking the formula (buildup, madness, breakdown) and tweaking it subtly to surprisingly great effect. Thrash vibes add flavor to De Micco’s riffs, while the rest of the instruments give him the space to (finally) be heard. So much of his efforts throughout I Feel the Everblack Festering Within Me get buried beneath the suffocating blend of Andrew O’Connor’s orchestral synths and Austin Archey’s concrete-liquifying blastbeats. De Micco can play, dammit, and it’s refreshing when the production lets him. Ramos also leaves behind the “hype reel” vocals in favor of a consistently mid-range growl that fits the piece perfectly. Death metal influences anchor the pacing, and the huge breakdown feels earned rather than obligatory. Lorna Shore almost sound like a different band here, and I mean that with genuine positivity and excitement. Follow-ups “The Nameless Hymn” and “Forevermore” err closer to business as usual, but with Dimmu Borgir-coded symphonics and a suitably melancholic finale, respectively, both manage to carve out welcome handholds in this glossy deathcore bedrock.

One of the greatest misfortunes a band can endure from its listeners—especially if said band has delivered something truly monumental—is the expectation that the bar they’ve established must be cleared on every subsequent release. I wasn’t expecting I Feel the Everblack Festering Within Me to surpass Pain Remains, but I had hoped to hear some level of evolution on the part of Lorna Shore regardless. They’re an insanely talented band, one of the elite in the scene, and it’s precisely because of that talent that I’d expected more. Despite glimmers of hope in tracks like “War Machine,” I Feel the Everblack Festering Within Me has Lorna Shore spinning their wheels creatively. Diehard fans will undoubtedly love what Ramos and the boys have cooked up here. Anyone hoping for something more varied from the New Jersey titans, you may want to fester elsewhere.

Recommended tracks: Oblivion, Lionheart, War Machine, The Nameless Hymn
You may also like: A Wake in Providence, Mental Cruelty, Sold Soul, Not Enough Space, Ovid’s Withering
Final verdict: 6/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives

Label: Century Media – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website

Lorna Shore is:
– Adam De Micco (guitars)
– Austin Archey (drums)
– Andrew O’Connor (synths, orchestration)
– Mike Yager (bass, backing vocals)
– Will Ramos (vocals)