EATEN BY SHARKS – THE UNDERTOW OF HATE

Self-prescribed as a concept album, were met with themes of nautical horrors as seen through a cinematic lens as each song is composed to follow a journey along a violent and storied narrative. Merging progressive death and metalcore slam vibes we get churning piles of dense riffage, throaty growls, snarly rasps and obtuse polyrhythms that paint scenes of desperation framed with a lurking sense of fear.  

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Slabs of punishing chords and a thunderous low-end bass are balanced with slick leads and some fiery fretwork littered throughout all the songs. Tempos frequently change from high-end death chugging to mid paced breakdowns, and beefy doses of double-kicks and catchy returns into the main song lines. Crunchy twin guitars form the immediate heaviness of the band’s soundscape, constantly working in tandem to create dark benthic layers executed with precision and torque. The bass seems heavy in the mix but not entirely absorbed or devoid of presence as the reverberations are seismic and fuse nicely into the rhythm engines. With the constant shifting of pace and tempo’s, the drums batter and blast their way through various time signatures that accentuate the power and unpredictability of the ocean’s environs. Arising from deep vocalic depths, the guttural growls range between coarse and gravelly imbuing a further sense of panic and trepidation as if some demersal beast was summoned from the inky blackness.  

From the punishing openers of Vessels Torn and intensity of In Tidal Chaos, we’re soon charted into some interesting voyages of timing and tenacity. The single Capsized sets the hooks with catchy riffs and mid-paced butchery, while Bodies Overboard continues with sharped chords and heavy beatdowns. At the midway point we have the cacophonous whirlpool that is Treading Water, then some high-speed thrash in Dragged Under followed by the hostile death-slam doom-dirge experience in Becoming Chum. Closing out with crisp tones and clinically tight rhythms, Crimson Tide reaffirms the frenzied moments of this story that links catastrophe with opportunity.  

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EATEN BY SHARKS consolidate their presence in the death metal scene once again and remind us that musical extremities can be fathomed from uniqueness and unconventionality. Those keen on the eviscerations of Cattle Decapitation, Cryptopsy, Gojira, Goreworm, and Fit For An Autopsy will sink into the flooding brutality of this album. The Undertow of Hate is an impressive sojourn of sound and fury that tides a forced heaviness of oceanic swells and turbulent waves.

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SCORE 9/10

Reviewed by glennosp