Lorna Shore

Call them heroes or hell-bringers, it doesn’t matter to the men of Lorna Shore. On their fifth album—the declarative I Feel The Everblack Festering Within Me—the New Jersey quintet are putting all of metal’s subgenres on notice. Because after one listen, you’ll wonder what motivates them and what took metal so long to evolve.

There are all kinds of levels within the 10 tracks on I Feel The Everblack Festering Within Me. Andrew O’Connor’s orchestral arrangements give the songs an epic, cinematic feel that guides listeners into a mise-en-scene of their own creation. When the other members add parts, the results are positively stentorian. De Micco can thrust into light-speed, black-metal tropes and then downshift into the kind of phrasing one might hear from a ‘70s guitar hero. Ramos is clearly the heir apparent to the kind of vocal madness that Faith No More’s Mike Patton built his considerable reputation on. Add in the propulsive terror of Yager and Archey, and there’s no reason for Lorna Shore’s collective feet to ever touch the ground. Hardly ordinary by anyone’s standards whether it’s deathcore or black metal, there are things at work on Everblack that feel more like an extension of prog rock due to its extremity and big grandiose gestures. But by virtue of physical onslaught and wanting to divine truth from their music, Lorna Shore have kept themselves fired up by torching up the metal rulebook at every turn, practically demanding that other genres step up their game.