Do you feel that? That claustrophobic sense of impending doom upon you. Fearing for your own safety is only natural, but running in the opposite direction is not recommended! Ungrace has arrived with their new album Hostile Revival and is fully armed with an arsenal of metal to tear the earth from under your unsuspecting feet. Death and destruction has taken the form of four guys from Ukraine and they have one mission and one mission alone: to completely annihilate your senses! Hostile Revival is Ungrace’s first full-length album and it proves to be a tightly woven combination of deathcore, metalcore and industrial metal.

Hostile Revival opens up with a steady march that only gives a subtle hint of what’s to come. Clocking in at only 54 seconds, it’s an interesting way to introduce us to the band. Basically, this track says “CRANK THE VOLUME NOW”, which I highly suggest you do. The momentum ramps up from here on out. Iowa’s vocals are demonic and when it comes to metal, I think they’re just what the doctor (or devil) ordered. He commands each track and acts as the ringmaster to this evil circus.

“Insane & Paranoid” kicks in with an up tempo drum beat and opens up into a menagerie of intricate drum fills, deliciously thick guitar and a bounce that you would expect to hear from a groove metal outfit. My favorite parts on this track are the breakdowns where the tom fills shift channels. Everything on this song is tightly assembled and there are quite a few change-ups but the track flows with ease.

Following “Insane & Paranoid” comes “Rampant Disease”, one of my favorite tracks out of the entire line up. The track ignites with run-away-locomotive double bass kicks and a menacing guitar riff. Eerie keyboards give the track an almost gothic atmosphere and compliment the mix well without overdoing it. This track has an absolutely infectious bounce to it and I always find myself cranking this one while driving. The song takes a lot of tempo changes and drops down into the darkest depths of doom. The guitar riffs are a distorted monster leaving a wake of destruction in their paths, layered perfectly amongst the mix.

If you want to hear a more mainstream metal sound, flip to the track “Waiting”. I found this song to be a surprise amongst songs that contain deathcore characteristics. The opening guitar is cleaner and has a more positive, upbeat sound to it. Although this is a good song, it was a bit out of place for both the band and for the album itself. Despite this fact, the song isn’t bad by any means and if you’re looking for something different, it’s worth checking out. Iowa will surprise you with the chorus. Instead of his standard demonic growls, he throws in clean vocals akin to Christian Machado (Ill Nino).

For all of you deathcore and modern metal heads out there, don’t fret. The rest of the album delves back into the depths of hell and delivers more of Ungrace’s signature sound. “Rape This Night” is an aggressive dose of chugging bounce and double bass. Let it be known that the drum work throughout this album is top notch. For me, it was one of the shining aspects. This track displays more of Ungrace’s modern metal characteristics and if it doesn’t get your head bobbing, you either have no rhythm or you’re just plain crazy. This is the kind of song that will leave any venue in ruins.

“Zero Logic” is another one that displays more of Ungrace’s modern metal sound, with some death metal characteristics scattered throughout. Although it’s not as technical and intricately assembled as other tracks on the album (“Humanity Dethroned” and “Rampant Disease”) it opens up with tons of aggression and has an Egyptian feel to it. The spoken word breaks the song up more than I would’ve liked but there is only one occurrence of it.

I have to say that I’m now a huge fan of Ungrace and I look forward to future releases. This album demonstrates huge technical prowess and is a tightly knit combination. Despite the fact that I’m not much of a deathcore or death metal fan, I was completely drawn into this album. I listened to it straight through multiple times and was rarely ever compelled to skip a song. Some of you guys out there who are into the deadliest of death may want to stray from this, but for guys like me, it’s highly recommended. These guys are out for blood. Pick up this album if you’re into bands like Divine Heresy, Mnemic or Strapping Young Lad.

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