Shrines of Paralysis
| Shrines of Paralysis | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by Ulcerate | ||||
| Released | October 28, 2016 | |||
| Recorded | April 2016 | |||
| Studio | MCA Studios and Depot Studios, Auckland, New Zealand | |||
| Genre | Technical death metal, post-metal | |||
| Length | 57:44 | |||
| Language | English | |||
| Label | Relapse Records | |||
| Ulcerate chronology | ||||
| ||||
Shrines of Paralysis is the fifth studio album by New Zealand death metal band Ulcerate. The album was released on October 28, 2016, through Relapse Records. The album was officially announced on June 27, 2016, with the band confirming that they would be touring North America in support of the album in late 2016 with Phobocosm and Zhrine, including a show at the Saint Vitus bar in New York City.[1][2]
On August 23, 2016, the release date for the album was confirmed for October 28, 2016 and the band began streaming the album's first single, 'Extinguished Light'.[3][4]
Critical reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Exclaim! | 8/10[5] |
| Metal Hammer |    [6] |
| Sputnik Music | 4.8/5[7] |
Shrines of Paralysis has received very positive reviews from music critics. Sputnik Music described the album as a "masterpiece of musicianship, composition and imagery", writing that "In keeping with Ulcerate opuses of the past, Shrines of Paralysis hides all of its nuances from plain view, uncovering them only for the most devout. Return with regularity and the mosaic begins to piece itself together." Invisible Oranges also praised the album, writing that "A lot of technical death metal gets described as knotty, but Ulcerate are much better at untangling the strands", and that "This decentralized and evasive approach to brutality captures the essence of death metal at its onset – a sense of unease and terrifying otherness – without ever falling prey to the genre’s tropes."[8] Metal Hammer's Dom Lawson described the album as "intensely internal music, wrung from the darkest depths of the New Zealanders’ collective consciousness and spewed out with flailing abandon like Cthulhu bursting through the earth’s surface. It speaks of unimaginable horrors, as barbarous and excruciating maelstroms of dissonance and rhythmic ebb and flow like the opening Abrogation and the unnervingly bleak There Are No Saviours unfold." He concluded that the album is "another evolutionary jump for these shadowy Kiwis, but not one that caters to the easily bewildered."
Track listing
All lyrics written by Paul Kelland; all music composed by Michael Hoggard and Jamie Saint Merat.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Abrogation" | 5:51 |
| 2. | "Yield to Naught" | 7:44 |
| 3. | "There Are No Saviours" | 8:05 |
| 4. | "Shrines of Paralysis" | 9:25 |
| 5. | "Bow to Spite" | 1:55 |
| 6. | "Chasm of Fire" | 8:08 |
| 7. | "Extinguished Light" | 8:43 |
| 8. | "End the Hope" | 7:53 |
| Total length: | 57:44 | |
Personnel
- Paul Kelland − vocals, bass guitar
- Michael Hoggard − guitars
- Jamie Saint Merat − drums, engineering, mixing, mastering, art, layout
- Brad Boatright - format mastering
References
- ↑ "Ulcerate announce new album 'Shrines of Paralysis' and tour". Brooklyn Vegan. June 27, 2016. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
- ↑ RECORDS, RELAPSE (2016-08-23). "ULCERATE Share "Extinguished Light," Announce 'Shrines Of Paralysis' Release Date + Pre-Order". Retrieved 2016-08-23.
- ↑ "Listen to the New Ulcerate Song "Extinguished Light"". MetalSucks. 2016-08-23. Retrieved 2016-08-23.
- ↑ "Ulcerate album set for release, new song online". Lambgoat. August 23, 2016. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
- ↑ Falzon, Denise (October 26, 2016). "Ulcerate Shrines of Paralysis". Exclaim!. Retrieved October 29, 2016.
- ↑ Lawson, Dom (October 24, 2016). "Ulcerate - Shrines Of Paralysis album review". Metal Hammer. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
- ↑ Jacquibim (October 16, 2016). "Review: Ulcerate - Shrines of Paralysis". Sputnik Music. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
- ↑ "Ulcerate – "Extinguished Light"". Invisible Oranges - The Metal Blog. Retrieved 2016-10-29.