Lorna Shore

Call them heroes or hell-bringers, it doesn’t matter to the men of Lorna Shore. On their fifth album—the declarative I Feel The Everblack Festering Within Me—the New Jersey quintet are putting all of metal’s subgenres on notice. Because after one listen, you’ll wonder what motivates them and what took metal so long to evolve. To the surprise of absolutely nobody, the Shore-men doubled-down on their extremity on their new album.

There are all kinds of levels within the 10 tracks on I Feel The Everblack Festering Within Me. Andrew O’Connor’s orchestral arrangements give the songs an epic, cinematic feel that guides listeners into a mise-en-scene of their own creation. When the other members add their parts, the results are positively stentorian. De Micco can thrust into light-speed, black-metal tropes and then downshift into the kind of phrasing one might hear from a ‘70s guitar hero. Ramos is clearly the heir apparent to the kind of vocal madness that Faith No More’s Mike Patton built his considerable reputation on. Add in the propulsive terror of Yager and Archey, and there’s no reason for Lorna Shore’s collective feet to ever touch the ground. Hardly ordinary by anyone’s standards whether it’s deathcore or black metal, there are things at work on Everblack that feel more like an extension of prog rock due to its extremity and big grandiose gestures. But by virtue of physical onslaught and wanting to divine truth from their music, Lorna Shore have kept themselves fired up by torching up the metal rulebook at every turn, practically demanding that other genres step up their game.

But in the context of the myriad of metal subgenres out there, Lorna Shore—vocalist Will Ramos, guitarist Adam De Micco, bassist/vocalist Michael Yager, rhythm guitarist, synth and orchestral arranger Andrew O’Connor and drummer Austin Archey—are operating on a larger plane than ever before. Lorna Shore have been able to access new generations of listeners because their emotional firepower is just as devastating as their existing sonic armories. Once listeners embrace I Feel The Everblack Festering Inside Of Me, they will realize that they’re in Lorna Shore’s movie now, and that might tell them something about their lives. When heroes are hard to find, try looking inside yourself first.