WRITINGS OF RECKONING - 'LUCID NIGHTMARE' ALBUM REVIEW

Californian one man project, Writings of Reckoning, have dropped their new album, Lucid Nightmare, an eerie genre blend any metalhead will enjoy. This is the third album from the artist in under twelve months to be released via bandcamp, and they’ve attempted to depart from traditional metalcore formulas by blending different elements and parts together in a new way.

Writings of Reckoning’s sole member, Tyler Brown, wrote the album under heavy influence from Silent Hill 2, and uses it as a medium to explore the breakdown of reality, trauma and grief, with the song titles directly reflecting the subject matter.

The album opens up with an introduction track, ‘Dnalrednus Semaj’ (James Sunderland, the protagonist to SILENT HILL 2), building an eerie atmosphere to establish the album. All you’d need to drop this somewhere in-game is the shuffling of footsteps. 

We then launch hard into ‘Tendrils of Fog’, followed by ‘The Skin In The Corner’, which accentuates the inspiration material, through distant laughter layered with vocals, then you’re left, suspended with heavy reverb broken by chuggy guitars and a metal clap. Between these two main tracks, you get the feel for the deathcore you should expect from the rets of the album.

Brown’s vocals are well refined, reaching low gutturals and higher shrieks. The intro to ‘I. The Forsaken Man' is a prime example, with instrumental downtime in the first half for the vocals to really stand apart. This song has a wicked mid section, with chilling guitars that descend into biting riffs, but it loses its edge towards the end as we get a large section laden with shimmer and reverb. I can see what Brown is trying to achieve here, and that being said - I get it. I love my Nux Atlantic delay and reverb pedal, and you know I’m hitting that shimmer every chance I get.

‘Otherworld’ follows with jutted guitar riffs creating ambience between to let the sound soak through you for the introduction, with a super fast paced middle, and closing out on some thick chugs. I do feel there would be some benefit from a more natural drum sound, as it’s highly processed and detracts from the humanity you find naturally in the guitars and vocals. 

There’s an intense intro for ‘II. The Incarnate Punisher’, which is hard and fast for much of the song. Brown seems to really push his vocals for this track, letting an air of desperation enter his tone. ‘A Metaphor of Grave Revelation’ has a more classic guitar introduction, over the top of the vocals, before heading back to the layered deathcore sound.

I do feel that the previous two tracks are some of the stronger songs on the album. The first few have a lot of space, which isn’t a bad thing, especially while trying to channel something specific, such as Silent Hill, but it may be lost on some audiences who are looking for something consistently heavy from start to finish. There is more intricate guitar work and a more dynamic and intentional use of space on the rest of the album that works much more to its favour.

‘III. The Slaying of the Afflicted’ keeps to the core genre, quite tough, fast and loud, with less layered sections that return you to raw emotion. ‘Lucid Nightmare’ is a bit different, pushing the boundaries of deathcore as the guitars turn towards what we might expect from a melodic death band. Much like ‘III...’, there is more room to let additional vocals and synths shine through. 

Overall, Lucid Nightmare is quite well rounded. Brown has clearly made intentional call backs to the game which was so influential to him, fans of Silent Hill II will have a lot to love. Reminding ourselves that this is a one man project, Writings of Reckoning has polished up an impressive album, and many deathcore and metal fans will find something to enjoy.

listen to Lucid Nightmare below!!

 bandcamp --YOUTUBE