(Andy Synn says that when you’re as heavy as Vomit Forth it doesn’t really matter what they call you)
It’s funny how the use of certain words, certain terms, can prompt such drastically different reactions.
Case in point, if I were to call the new album from Connecticut crushers Vomit Forth a “Death Metal” album there’d be a bunch of people who’d immediately go and check it out purely because of that… and just as many people ready to string me up for daring to call it that.
But if I were to call it a “Deathcore” album? Well, those self-same people would either immediately hate it… or get mad at me for insulting the band.
The thing is – after having listened to it a hell of a lot over the last week or two – Terrified of God absolutely is what I’d call a “Deathcore” record… one which has just as much in common with the likes of The Acacia Strain and Black Tongue as it does Cannibal Corpse or Suffocation… but that’s nothing to be afraid of!
I guess your reaction will largely be informed by whether you see the term “Deathcore” as an insult – which I certainly don’t, to be clear – and whether you prefer your Death Metal unadulterated by Hardcore influences, but just a quick listen to the bowel-quaking chug ‘n’ chunder of “Sacred Apple” or the bone-crushing battery of “Blood Soaked Death Dream” (which, truth be told, reminds me quite a bit of early Whitechapel with its massive, lurching riffs and bloody butcher’s hooks) should reassure you that, whatever you might call them, Vomit Forth still bring the brutality in spades.
Arguably, the band are even more interesting when they push their sound a little further out towards one extreme or another – rather than dwelling in the murky middle ground between Death Metal and Deathcore – with, on the one hand, songs like early stand-out “Negative Penance” and second half highlight “Non Responsive” upping both the intensity and the technicality (and opening up more room for drummer Luke Zeitler to stretch his limbs a little more) in a manner more reminiscent of “Brutal” death-dealers like Brodequin and Defeated Sanity.
On the other hand, however, the gut-churning grooves and neck-wrenching rhythms of “Blood Lead Index” and “Rotting Wool” (the latter of which also showcases the use of some unexpectedly effective semi-clean vocals to further darken the mood) shifts things more towards the ‘core-influenced end of the spectrum, sacrificing some of that technical precision in favour of pure power and a palpable sonic presence that inspires a more primal, instinctive – and, arguably, more immediate – response.
There’s also certain atmosphere-enhancing embellishments and intriguing flirtations with claustrophobic ambience – such as the brooding, bass-heavy gloom that takes over during the second half of “Poison Child”, or the underlying aura of anxiety-inducing tension and terror that permeates “Fear of Retaliation” – which suggests the group have deeper, darker ambitions bubbling away just beneath the surface, such that by the time the buzzing tremolo hooks of “Salt” finally stop spinning you might just find yourself a willing convert to the band’s music… regardless of how you categorise it!