CoC : Ulcerate - Everything Is Fire : Review

Ulcerate - _Everything Is Fire_
(Candlelight Records, 2009)
by: Jackie Smit (9 out of 10)

If the idea of a musical summit featuring Meshuggah, Suffocation and Immolation as the main players sets your pulse racing, then you need to heed my advice and run, nay sprint to your nearest record purveyor and get your hands on the sophomore album by New Zealand's Ulcerate. Liberally blending the aforementioned acts' best bits into a surprisingly unique and coherent alchemy, to label _Everything Is Fire_ as brutal is a gross understatement. The eight songs contained here are visceral to the point of sounding apocalyptic, and what makes them even more so is the vein of tar-thick atmosphere that seeps into every crevice of the disc's fifty minutes. Victoriously atop this smouldering heap of sonic rubble stand the guitar duo of Oliver Goater and Michael Hoggard who mangle, contort and twist practically every one of the album's myriad riffs to where they take on an almost otherworldly quality. Not to be outdone, Jamie Saint Merat's work behind the drumkit is nothing short of breathtaking. His onslaught is relentless, dynamic, never settling on a single rhythm for longer than is absolutely necessary. The fruits of their labours -- eight songs that as a rule all exceed the five minute mark -- are virtually faultless, each simmering with personality that makes them both memorable and practically demands repeated listens and analysis. Among these "We Are Nil" is a current personal favourite, but to be honest it's nigh on impossible to choose. What is glaringly obvious though is that in an ideal world _Everything Is Fire_ should serve as a vivid warning to every death metal legend and superstar: there are a new set of contenders in town and they have enough talent between the four of them to dethrone a great many of the so-called genre leaders.

Contact: http://www.myspace.com/ulcerate

(article published 21/5/2009)

CHATS
2/26/2011	J Carbon	Ulcerate: Destruction For Miles

ALBUMS
2/25/2011	J Carbon	8	Ulcerate - Destroyers of All
10/14/2003	Q Kalis	6	Ulcerate - Ulcerate

DEMOS
2/29/2004	Q Kalis	3.5	Ulcerate - The Coming of Genocide