Review by Daniel for Ulcerate - Cutting the Throat of God (2024)

New Zealand dissonant death metal masters Ulcerate's last album was a complete game-changer for me. The trio were largely responsible for converting me to the more dissonant brand of modern death metal after I'd originally been introduced to them through their classic 2009 sophomore album "Everything is Fire" but 2020's "Stare Into Death & Be Still" represented somewhat of a culmination of everything they'd done up until that point & it would become a categorical statement of intent to the global metal scene. It didn't do anything drastically different to what we'd heard from the band previously with its adjustments in technique & structure only being quite subtle. They'd somehow managed to make their dissonant sound more warm & melodic without losing any of the avant-garde dissonance & it worked absolutely brilliantly. I can still remember indulging myself in it while walking the streets of their hometown of Auckland while I was still managing the New Zealand service business at my previous employer & "Stare Into Death & Be Still" has since gone on to be awarded a place in my Top 100 Metal Releases of All Time list, such was its impact on me. That kind of recognition places a lot of pressure & expectation on an artist's next release though so it's lucky then that last year's "Cutting the Throat of God" is yet another marvelous achievement for one of the elite performers in all of metal.

"Cutting the Throat of God" saw Ulcerate returning with the same lineup that had recorded all of their albums to date. They're kinda unique in that regard with their consistency of personnel & their insular approach to creation playing a strong role in their ultimate success as they're afforded the time to grow & develop together at their own rate. They've also handled the recording & mixing themselves with drummer extraordinaire Jamie Saint Merat (Verberis) generally being taking the reins as the mastermind behind the creation of each album. The band's seventh full-length was recorded from September to December 2023 & would be Ulcerate's second full-length for French metal label Debemur Morti Productions. It sounds pretty spectacular too with Merat having achieved enough clarity to ensure that the cacophony of instrumentation makes complete sense but leaving enough noise in the equation to highlight Ulcerate's chaotic edge at the same time. His drum sound is a definite highlight of the production for me as it beautifully showcases Merat's unbelievable skill & creativity with his kick drum cutting through the mix with precision & power. I honestly think this dude might be an alien because this sort of shit simply shouldn't be humanly possible as far as I can see. He's an absolute drum enigma at this point & is only getting better & better with age. The vocals of bass player Paul Kelland (The Temple) boom out of the speakers with a similar aggression to what we heard on the last record, sounding absolutely monstrous at times, while the thick layers of guitar interplay from Michael Hoggard possess a unique understanding of counterpoint & melodic/harmonic theory, despite their clear emphasis on tension & dissonance. To be blunt, the album simply sounds like you're listening to the premier exponents of their craft because... well... you are!

"Cutting the Throat of God" contains an expansive array of different textures & atmospheres that take the listener on a journey that can often feel all-consuming but is tied together by common themes which seem to be very tightly constructed. If you're familiar with Ulcerate's previous work then this won't sound foreign to you at all. In fact, this is a very similar record to "Stare Into Death & Be Still" is most respects &, at this point, Ulcerate are starting to feel a little like AC/DC or Cannibal Corpse in that you know exactly what you're going to get but it doesn't prevent them from dazzling you with their incredible ability to take the listener to rarely achieved heights. The more subdued parts of the album are once again some of the most gripping & provide the perfect contrast to Jamie's spectacular blast-beat sections. Hoggard's contribution should not be overlooked on this occasion because it takes a rare talent to come up with multiple different guitar parts that sound so avant-garde in isolation but work so beautifully when played over the top of each other. He just seems to get better with each release in this regard. Kelland's vocals are possibly more varied than he's achieved before too with a variety of different delivery approaches being taken to keep the listener on their toes & all of them sounding as imposing as the last.

The tracklisting is nothing short of masterful with all seven pieces achieving classic status & ensuring that the quality level never shows signs of dropping across the lengthy hour-long run time. That's not to say that the quality levels are a flat line though as Ulcerate still possess the ability to take things to a higher rung that only their most elite peers can touch upon. On this album that climax is reached right in the middle of the album with the one-two punch of "Transfiguration In & Out of Worlds" & album highlight "To See Death Just Once" leaving me utterly destroyed, a blubbering mess on the floor muttering something about dark Kiwi gods. "Stare Into Death & Be Still" was programmed quite similarly actually, only I tend to feel that the crescendo on that record was a little longer which has given it a slight edge over its follow-up with me personally but that's not to take anything away from "Cutting the Throat of God" because it's yet another mind-blowing creative masterclass from one of the truly great metal establishments of the modern scene. I honestly can't see it being beaten for our Metal Academy Release of the Year Award at this point, an event that seemed almost inevitable before I'd even gotten halfway through my first listen. "Cutting the Throat of God" is about as essential as extreme metal gets in 2024 is the emphatic creative statement that diehard fans like myself were all hoping for.

For fans of Gorguts, Artificial Brain & Portal.