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2024 Retro – ULCERATE

2024 Retro – ULCERATE

"The passage to atonement has vanished'
True repentance was never in reach
Stricken down through compulsion
Starved of the world
Cutting the Throat of God
" ('Cutting the Throat of God')

In the eighth instalment of our retrospective series, we foreground ULCERATE's monumental seventh album "Cutting the Throat of God" – a defining opus in the realm of unorthodox Death Metal. We also gladly invite you to explore earlier episodes of the series on our website, where we spotlight mesmerizing 2024 releases from AKHLYS, WAIDELOTTE, PESTILENGTH, and many others.

"Awake to exist
Alive to expire
The anguish of emptiness manifest
" ('Transfiguration In and Out of Worlds')

Relentlessly pushing the boundaries of Death Metal since their 2022 formation, New Zealand visionaries ULCERATE continued to refine their unconventional and unique approach to Extreme Metal via the follow-up to the widely celebrated "Stare into Death and Be Still". Released in June 2024, "Cutting the Throat of God" unfolds across seven mesmerizing tracks in a masterfully-crafted and hook-laden work that stands as a universe unto itself – a fiery amalgamation of ingeniously visceral Death/Black Metal. Here, dizzying experimentation converges with superlative rhythmic abandon to produce a soundscape both grotesquely twisted and profoundly moving, leaving the listener breathless due to its emotional depth.

In a wide-ranging interview with Treble webzine, drummer Jamie Saint-Merat gave insights into the album's creation:

"Stare into Death…" is the album that marks the second chapter of the band, where we made a conscious decision to move away from an almost entirely dissonant palette, and embrace melody and power. So, with "Cutting the Throat…" we just had a vastly wider sonic landscape to begin writing in, and writing sections like the 'To Flow Through Ashen Hearts' intro came very naturally and captured the appropriate mood we were after."

The strong impact of "Cutting the Throat of God" on the Metal scene is evident in the overwhelmingly positive reactions from fans and resounding acclaim from the press, with the album being included in numerous best-of-2024 lists, as the examples below vividly illustrate:

"Cutting the Throat of God" is a highly evolved, militantly creative and endlessly fascinating piece of work that merely confirms what sensible folk already know about this band. ULCERATE are astonishing!" (Blabbermouth)

"A blissfully dark melting pot of the savagery, authenticity, and more recently, beauty that makes this icon of the dissonant death metal world who they are." (Angry Metal Guy)

"…jam-packed with all manner of aural wickedness, brutality, and technicality founded on atmospheric depth." (Metal Injection)

"…this strange, dissonant, technical Death Metal is one of the most compelling listens in all of Metal." (Bravewords)

""Cutting the Throat of God" is very powerful, and it shows ULCERATE continuing to pave their own way, pave their own sounds in the Death Metal, Black Metal, post-Metal, the everything Metal realm." (The Needle Drop)

Exploring a cohesive lyrical theme centered around the rupture of morality, the delicate boundary between depravity and extremity, and the irreversible descent into darkness, ULCERATE take up one of the most essential topics of existence per se – death!

"This grave error seeks solace in vehemence
In pointlessness, in lawlessness
To see death just once
" ('To See Death Just Once')

JSM explains further in the aforementioned interview:

"We are strong proponents of the idea that Death Metal is indeed the metal of death, and that there should always be a correlation to exploring this most fundamental aspect of all life. We're most interested in not so much the event itself, but the atmosphere surrounding it, and its impact on a still-living psyche. The fascination is purely born out of real-world experiences: the complex mix of pain, tragedy, release, and at times, terror. And yes, this has absolutely shifted the older we get, the reality of our mortality is felt in a much deeper sense. We've also all lost loved ones over the past few years, which obviously resounds deeply. There's a profound sadness and melancholy that surrounds this, and the music we've been writing is triangulating towards a sonic representation of these feelings."

Listen to this masterpiece via our YouTube channel, Bandcamp and on all streaming platforms:

To showcase the sheer force and power of these new compositions, in the latter half of 2024 the trio embarked on an extensive tour spanning Australia/New Zealand, Europe, and ultimately India (read an interview with Rolling Stone India here). As a special highlight, ULCERATE delivered a breathtaking performance of "Cutting the Throat of God" in its entirety at DMP's very own Servants of Chaos festival in October, leaving the audience in awe.

Explore a collection of excellent live shots from the European tour here!

For 2025, more live performances across Europe and around the globe are planned and currently in preparation. At present, the following shows have been confirmed:

31.05.2025 – Graveland Festival, The Netherlands
01.06.2025 – Fortress Festival, United Kingdom

More info will follow in due time.

Posted on 22-01-2025 Ulcerate