Ov Sulfur – The Burden Ov Faith
Release Date: 24th March 2023
Label: Century Media
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Genre: Deathcore, Death Metal.
FFO: Carnifex, Shadow of Intent, Signs of the Swarm.
Review By: Andy Spoon
When given a list of potential reviewable albums, I was pumped to see that Ov Sulfur was releasing new music. Aside from being a major player in the deathcore marketplace, Ov Sulfur is known for some of the darkest, slowest, nastiest material in the subgenre. I was also immediately captivated because of the fat list of guest artists, which includes Alex Terrible, Taylor Barber, and Howard Jones, three very well-known artists in the deathcore and metalcore world. I was instantly interested in how these guest vocals were going to show up on The Burden Ov Faith, the band’s first album with distributor Century Media, and set for release on March 24th, 2023.
The album’s 46:04 runtime is largely packed full of heavier material, only having a few small moments of melodic repose between the ugly, nasty, breakdowns that make this genre so much fun. I was pleasantly surprised at how often I was drawn into the track’s breakdown moments. While many fans of death metal have serious problems with the “core” part of deathcore, the fans seem to love it. Vocalist Rocky Hoover’s wide breadth of vocal techniques and the band’s insane mix of blackened atmosphere and raging guitars and drums give us a little bit of a nod to Dimmu Borgir and Cradle of Filth, while being absolutely heavier than each in almost every way.
Melodic moments in most tracks tend to give some “hooks” that will remain catchy for listeners requiring some more cyclical tracks, e.g. chorus and hook. However, I prefer the tracks with the death metal presentation much more; something with less structure, but more of a wide variation of material, musical phrases, and instrument solos. The Burden Ov Faith definitely has multiple moments where each type of fan could be satisfied. For instance, the track Death Ov Circumstance, has a metalcore hook and chorus, ending with a giant guitar solo, while Unraveling (Feat. Taylor Barber) is just blasting insanity from the first second to the last.
I absolutely loved the track I Apostate, 5 minutes of brutality that exhibits Hoover’s vocal range, especially on the high side. His screechy, nasally-sounding wretch that he produces adds tremendous feeling and atmosphere to the song that makes it absolutely outrageous to hear. I played it twice in a row, just to drink it all in again, probably sealing it as my absolute favorite track of the whole album and punching their ticket to be added to hundreds of Spotify Deathcore Workout playlists. There is a lot of high-energy moments across The Burden Ov Faith, not necessarily fast moments, though. The track featuring Howard Jones (Ex-Killswitch Engage), Wide Open, is also a total banger, leaving me wanting to throw it on repeat. Before the album was over, I had already decided to assign three or four of the tracks from the album on my own 2023 “favorite” tracks.
I’d absolutely put this release up there with To The Grave’s Director’s Cuts, as a serious contender for best deathcore albums of the first quarter of the year. Ask me in 4 months if I still feel that way, because I might not. However, I think that aside from a couple of other releases this year, I’m most impressed with Ov Sulfur’s 2023 effort. If nothing else will suffice, this is easily also their best, most enjoyable work. I think deathcore fans are going to go ballistic for it. This one is an absolute 4.5/5 for me.
(4.5 / 5)
