Lorna Shore: oblivion single review

lorna shore is back to melt your face right off of your skull. With the release of "oblivion" and the countdown to their album "I feel the everblack festering in me" (september 12) on, it is safe to say that this is going to be a wild one. So grab your water bottles and your noise cancelling headphones and let's get into this.

I listened to this for the first time while watching the video release, (see below), and to say it has confronting themes is probably an understatement. obviously being a deathcore band and taking into account their track record with the soul crushing trilogy that is the pain remains series, I went into this knowing they would find a way to mess me up some how. just to touch on the video for a second longer, it has some stunning imagery, the set is perfect for the story of the apocalyptic destruction of the planet and the actors are amazing. the main actor had me blown away by his performance.

okay, onto the music. the song is a whopping 8 minutes and 19 seconds long, but don't let that

deter you. driving home the subject of human destruction of the earth, "We only know how to burn the forest, stain the ocean, rip the Earth from its revolution

Forcing a path through the ebb and flow of rebirth

We feed the curse", this song is a prime example against the "metal is just screaming, noise and hatred" trope.

lyrically, oblivion actually reminds me of "the seed" by Norwegian singer Aurora, or perhaps, it is the consequences of what happens when you wait too long to fix the issues because of greed, pride and a lack of will to change. "We split the star, Fractured the earth, Our time has come, Oh, what have we done?"

---

Where do I begin?

We've shaken hands with oblivion

A war of attrition

An involuntary epidemic suicide

Sweet cyanide

We cannot yet defy our form

We are the locust swarm

We are all poisonous, venomous inside

The blight of the world's divide

We only know eradication

So kill the light in me

Diminish the sky's reflection so we can finally see

---

oblivion hits so hard within so many elements

that the first few times of listening to the track I was a little overwhelmed; however, upon listening to it a further amount of times that I will not admit to, it actually made me realize that this is the exact emotion that the band was trying to portray. like an overwhelming lack of control at a situation that has gone too far for too long.

Lorna Shore has hit it out of the park and left

you nowhere to go but to a coffin. "This is the war within, All this destruction, Shake up the world unknown to me, We are infernal beings reconditioned for self-destruction, uh, [Refrain] Our hands are crimson, Stained by the blood, the fucking blood, Now there's nowhere left to run, What have we done?"

musically you are dragged through such an unhinged experience that you are left reeling by the end; sitting in a mixture of shock and honestly, depression. while there is still the

classic, you know this is lorna shore, experience, with filthy breakdowns, heavy guitars riffs, a chunky bass line, drumming so intense you will need to catch your breath and a face melting guitar solo, it has lost some of the orchestral notes that has become a standard through their music. short of detracting from the listening experience, I believe it actually enhances the overall tone. there is no time for beauty, subtlety or caution

in this message. The planet is dying, the world's governments are doing little about it and lorna shore are desperate to call you to action. if you are expecting the normal showy goblin vocal range of will Ramos in this song you will not find it here, this is the desperate pleading cries of a man who has watched things go from bad to worse and the vocals reflect that. "How far will we go until we lose it all?"

all photos by chancexvisuals

follow the link to read about my experience at lorna shore's brisbane concert in February.

for fans of: the black dahlia murder, whitechapel, lamb of god, slaughter to prevail and infant annihilator

you can find lorna shore on: Spotify, apple music, facebook, YouTube, tiktok, Instagram and their website.

10/10