Review by Shadowdoom9 (Andi) for Lorna Shore - I Feel the Everblack Festering Within Me (2025)
Until now, the only band to have 4 releases with 5-star ratings from me in a row was Kamelot. And now, another band has joined in from the extreme side of the symphonic metal spectrum, Lorna Shore! 3 years after their previous album Pain Remains, the masters of symphonic deathcore are back with their new album I Feel the Everblack Festering Within Me, continuing the sound that made them popular while adding in some surprises to keep things exciting.
The new album really is similar to Pain Remains. Elitists can put their hand down though, because as I've said just now, there are some fantastic surprises that not even Pain Remains has, which we'll get to as the review goes on. The album doesn't have a multi-track suite like that of Pain Remains, let alone have it released alongside 3 singles. Less singles, more anticipation, am I right? And guess what, there are more songs that have no breakdowns! As much as I like breakdowns, it's nice to not hear them in nearly every song. Those songs without breakdowns end up sounding closer to straight-up extreme symphonic metal, so I don't mind this album sitting in The Guardians.
For the songs with breakdowns, the track with the best one is the opening "Prison of Flesh", which is a grand rollercoaster ride through stampeding deathcore. A killer way to start this offering! With their next track and first single "Oblivion", I enjoy the music that throws back to 5 years ago in the Immortal era, along with the lyrics growled by Will Ramos. Another epic highlight! The first of the 3 tracks without breakdowns is "In Darkness", which is almost like their attempt at combining the title track of And I Return to Nothingness and one of my favorite Mechina songs "Anagenesis", including the double key-change final chorus of the former but excluding the clean singing and cyber synths of the latter. It still can't beat those two tracks though.
Speaking of the title track of And I Return to Nothingness, "Unbreakable" has the potential to surpass that as my new ultimate favorite Lorna Shore track (a couple other songs later on would take that throne, keep reading). Lots of Parkway Drive-like melody, and the lyrics are so motivational, "And after it all, our hearts are invincible, like diamonds we glow, WE ARE UNBREAKABLE!!!!" However, its throne is stolen by the next track "Glenwood" (again there's another track lurking in the shadows to take that throne). Absolutely epic and emotional, and with the lack of breakdowns, this is really extreme power-ish symphonic metal, enough to make a genuine Guardians track. More of those heartful melodies appear in "Lionheart". The melody and occasional choir adds to its uniqueness, and the breakdown is never out of place. The anthemic "Death Can Take Me" has the blackened vibe of Mental Cruelty's new album Zwielicht, while ending with another one of the most crushing breakdowns in Lorna Shore's career.
"War Machine" is another standout and a different one at that. The tempo is slowed slightly for just full-on deathly groove-thrash that can fit well in a video game like DOOM Eternal and Metal Hellsinger, especially with its "f*** enemies up" attitude. So different yet so wild! Increasing the synth orchestration is "A Nameless Hymn". It's generally Lorna Shore's take on the symphonic black metal of Dimmu Borgir and later Behemoth, though a little too pompous. At least the skillful soloing and breakdown compels me. And now comes the true ultimate best track of this album and possibly by the band, the glorious finale "Forevermore", their longest track at nearly 10 minutes, a tear-jerking atmospheric epic of triumph and emotion. Probably the best symphonic deathcore closing track EVER!!! I'm not gonna put it into words, just listen to it to believe me.
And now this masterpiece album is over, so what can we take away from it? Well, they don't make a complete turn back into their earlier sound, nor did they make an all-out Pain Remains clone. They've just taken the best of those eras and added a few new things like that one different heavier track. In their perfect 2020s melodic symphonic blackened deathcore era, I Feel the Everblack Festering Within Me might just be the best of the best. Extreme vocals, drumming machinery, blazing guitars, booming bass, and cinematic orchestration make a recipe of unbreakable epicness. And I'm grateful that something like this can be heard all over the world!
Favorites: "Prison of Flesh", "Oblivion", "Unbreakable", "Glenwood", "Death Can Take Me", "War Machine", "Forevermore"