UK black metal heavyweights, Old Corpse Road, return with an album of tempestuous proportions. Like a storm across an oppressive seascape, this record rumbles and hisses and the results are beyond outstanding.
Announcing itself in triumphant style, there is an immediate expulsion of gloriously descending riffs, exhilarating synth backdrop and a swirling, somewhat disturbing, underbelly. This is atmospheric black metal that instantaneously transforms into a galloping cacophony of deeply cutting guitars, hanging spoken word, frenzied screams and pounding double kick and then, with the unpredictability of a storm, returns to an eerie expanse.
Tracks such as ‘Black Ship’ and ‘Demons of the Farne’ sit at the heart of this album and demonstrate a real ferocity loyal to the lore of extreme metal . Yet, Old Corpse Road use that sound to create suspense whilst simultaneously weaving sensations of abandonment that echo throughout. It is only the calm provided by moments such as ‘As Waves Devour Their Carcasses’ that a glimmer of hope and salvation feel possible. Even though it’s likely that the salvage could be giving in to the clutches of death itself.
‘On Ghastly Shores Lays the Wreckage of Our Lore’ is a rounded experience that has been expertly crafted and truly portrays the tale that the band wished to tell. Weighing in at well over an hour, this is all killer and absolutely no filler, and the results stand for themselves. This is, without a doubt, the strongest and most intelligent work that Old Corpse Road have produced to date.
9/10.