Many of you who know death metal tend to think of three major bands, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel and Suffocation and this year, the Long Island, New York native death metal king Suffocation returned to deliver to us another great album. Four years now after Pinnacle Of Bedlam and back with two new additions in the line-up, drummer Eric Morotti and guitarist Charlie Errigo, Suffocation bring us …Of The Dark Light. Now being that Suffocation is one of the best known death metal bands of all time, the number one question is has the sound changed at all with two new members and the answer is, not at all. The band has stayed true to their technical and perfected brutal sound. Now the only downfall is there is nothing new brought to the table besides the sci-fi themes in the artwork and lyrical content.
Now don’t get me wrong, this album still brings true technical and brutal prowess that the band is known for. The gutturals are still as heavy as ever, the guitars and drums are just insane and each track is a bulldozer to the ears. There are moments where you hope for a memorable composition but the constant tempo changes and breaks are almost too much. The tracks on the album also run into each other so the memorization of which song is which makes it almost impossible. Tracks like “Your Last Breaths” and “Caught Between Two Worlds” are the best tracks in my opinion with the latter having an amazing riff, probably the most memorable on the album.
All and all, this album is definitely still a great death metal release from these pioneers but I personally just wish there were more memorable moments throughout the album. For those who are fans of technical, brutal and just pure death metal will like this album.
Overall Score: 7.5/10
