Review by Shadowdoom9 (Andi) for Vatican - Ultra (2022)
From the heart of Savannah, Vatican has mashed up metalcore's different eras, such as the 90s hardcore era and the more tech-sounding new millennium, even adding a bit of post-hardcore, deathcore, electronicore. They have pretty much anything for every metalcore/hardcore fan! I wouldn't say this impresses me a whole lot, with a few factors including the album's short runtime of 35 minutes, but it's worth adding more to the modern soundscape of metalcore.
Ultra was released 3 years after their debut Sole Impulse (far shorter than Trenches' gap between albums), and they continue their move to their extending goal. There isn't too much of a significant problem with what they do.
The opening "Slipstream Annihilation" kicks off the highly aggressive strength. They stay strong in the subsequent "I Am Above". Then "Reverence" has more of the heavy rage expected by fans of metalcore. It's also the first song of the album to be a single and include clean vocals. Yeah, the singing appears sporadically throughout the album, hinting at Deftones-esque ether among the rage. The band makes a sudden turn in "Where Heavens Collide", a more radio-friendly track, with more of the clean vocals plus electronics. There's still some solid strength, but the album is better as a headbanging slasher, as it is in most of its remainder. "[ULTRAGOLD]" proves it right away with ultraviolent metalcore to blast you in the face without relenting.
The furious pace pauses for "Don't Speak", a brief electronic intermission. Exploding like a bomb is the brutal decimating "Decemeta". Then "Uncreated Waste" unleashes the tech-ish riff-wrath in just two minutes once again. The powerful fury continues in "Damage".
The unexpected "By Your Love" is a better clean-sung post-hardcore standout with an anthemic chorus. "Miracle of the Moon" is absolutely spiteful. "Mirror Dream" has more chaotic mathcore a la The Dillinger Escape Plan, and there no reason to complain about it if you're a true metalcore fan like me. "N.U.M.B. (Neutralize Under Maternal Bond)" hits you hard with emotion and violence. The finale "Did You Ever Notice I Was Gone?" adds piano and female singing to the electronic mix which sounds mediocre to me.
Softer speed bumps aside, Ultra is quite strong and heavy with half of the amount of songs impressing me. It would be nice if they can go heavier on the edges and not pull out too many sudden soft twists in such a short runtime for the album, but you can find very plenty to like here. The modern metalcore scene still thrives....
Favorites: "Slipstream Annihilation", "Reverence", "[ULTRAGOLD]", "Uncreated Waste", "By Your Love", "Mirror Dream", "N.U.M.B. (Neutralize Under Maternal Bond)"