Style: Progressive death metal, technical death metal, experimental death metal (mixed vocals, mostly harsh)
Recommended for fans of: Ulcerate, Meshuggah, Car Bomb, Gojira
Country: Australia
Release date: 27 March 2026

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A progressive metal junkie is always on the hunt for the next hit of something truly novel and fresh. Though our boundaries of personal listenability are loosely defined and continuously expanding, we are a picky bunch. While sifting through release after release, months may pass before being struck by an auditory flash of excitement. For those who prefer their progressive metal death-tinged, the unique moments are often found through volatile and unhinged instrumentation. If you’ve recently been starved of eccentric progressive death, rejoice! Australian progressive death metallers Growth carry a full bag of gnarly hooks and menacing licks in their sophomore release, Under the Under.

Growth attack with unconventional riffs delivered with a vital urgency. The guitar passages have a philosophical progressive-death feel akin to Ulcerate, performed with a blended, rabid approach reminiscent of Car Bomb and earlier Gojira. Guitarists Ben Boyle and Tristan Barnes fill the space between notes with dizzying pinch harmonics, wild finger tapping, and dissonant chords that coalesce into a menacing execution. In their distorted passages, the strings give off the impression that sitting still is a discomfort to be avoided at all costs. As a result, the guitar lines are constantly moving and evolving, providing an exhilarating and fresh listening experience. “Remember Me as Fire” opens with an eruption of technicality, later shifting into riffs delivered with punchy phrasing—with the guitars seeming to gasp for air in between phrases. The bouncing, heaving nature to the riffs, also employed in “Slings That Shatter”, results in an undeniable groove. In “Pain is Never Far Away”, the guitars sound like an amoebic organism probing a new environment. With curiosity and patient exploration, the being is able to grow and thrive in the expansive track. Growth are clearly not afraid to incorporate the unconventional within their riffs, and it frequently pays off.

As Boyle and Tristan Barnes concoct off-kilter guitar passages, the force that drives Under the Under is Nelson Barnes’ performance on the drums (I’ll refer to drummer Nelson Barnes and guitarist Tristan Barnes by their first names to avoid confusion). Nelson’s drumming, like the guitar work, is diverse and constantly shifting, all while simultaneously reining in Boyle and Tristan’s eccentric riffs—no small task. Like a determined father on a family road trip with unruly kids in the back, Nelson steadily leads Growth forward, despite the insanity of guitarists in the rear-view mirror. Within “Forward, Further, Spirit Killer”, Nelson’s drums drive the unconventional groove, connecting the neighboring guitar passages into a logical unified whole. Runs of fiery blast beats are interspersed throughout the track, which stand out in both their fury and contrast to the surrounding polyrhythmic maelstrom that Nelson conducts. When needed, Nelson has no problem stepping into straightforward rhythm patterns that provide the dueling guitars space to fill the air with their strange patterns, heard in the midpoints of “Remember Me as Fire” and “Under the Under”. The atmosphere Growth create is suffocating, enhanced by vocalist Luke Frizon’s disdain and dismay in the outside world. His harsh scream is blood-curdling and a fierce complement to the rabid instrumentation. 

Amongst the exciting maelstrom, there are missteps and cracks to Under the Under. The clean singing heard in the title track comes across as flat, detracting from the song rather than adding effective sonic diversity. These vocals, paired with an over-repetitive acoustic section in “Slings That Suffer”, become quickly grating. While I applaud Frizon’s attempt at creating a diverse vocal performance, the execution falls short. During the cleanly sung passages, I want nothing more than for Frizon to just stop, and return to his hair-raising harsh vocals. Though the album’s run time is under fifty minutes, four of the six songs are longer than nine minutes—and over these long run times, some of the dynamic instrumentation, which are initially so impactful due to their novel volatility, lose their luster. Growth may have been served better by whittling down their tracks and emphasizing the explosive nature of their song-writing.

Under the Under is a dynamic album full of engaging, volatile instrumentation. Progressive death metal thrill seekers will find plenty to be excited about. Though the lengthy run times and subpar clean vocal melodies temper enthusiasm a bit, Growth excel in the labile and unhinged; qualities that will have me returning to Under the Under for the foreseeable future.

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Recommended tracks: Remember Me As Fire, Under the Under, Forward, Further, Spirit Killer
You may also like: Hypno5e, Dormant Ordeal, Centuries of Decay, Pillars of Cacophony, Convulsing
Final verdict: 7/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram

Label: Wild Thing Records

Growth is:
– Luke Frizon (vocals)
– Ben Boyle (guitars)
– Tristan Barnes (guitars)
– Nelson Barnes (drums)
– Nick Rackham (bass)