This EP is lazy, uninspired, and messily over-produced. It's a big disappointment from a band that is supposed to be good according to the music industry, but probably about 300 metal releases were better than this in 2023.

The clean vocals get annoying, and the harsh vocals are pretty good, but the lyrics are sophomoric uneducated amateurish whatever. The softer not-so-metal parts sound like Dance Gavin Dance but minus all the emotion. The breakdowns are mid-tier, but that's supposed to be your specialty as a metalcore band, right? Dwarrowdelf had better breakdowns on his recent album, and that's not even his genre.

Also, if the singer is any good, then why are there so many effects and filters on her voice? People whined about effects on Ozzy Osbourne's voice on his 2022 album, but what's the age difference between Ozzy & Courtney? The stupidest choice by Spiritbox here was all of the overproduced synths & sound effects and electronica in the background. All that garbage is just tacked on without being integrated into the songs. They make an obvious effort to rip off the soundscape of NIИ's Downward Spiral. Wow, Spiritbox, you have street cred now. Was it even a band member or just some apathetic record label employee who added those sounds.

I guess the part that works best is the verses of the heavier songs when there aren't breakdowns, but overall this EP is a mess and it sounds like nobody cared about producing good music or even taking the time to focus their thoughts. It's not terrible but it's not good. ... See More

This is not a good album. I find it painful to say that because of the singer's gorgeous vocal tones and the pro musicianship by all members. However, the lyrics are full of clichés and the melodies and song structure are cliché as well. Jennifer misses opportunities to sing in the pocket and opportunities to belt out, so the singing ends up lacking motivation.

Another problem is that it sounds like it's designed to break into the pop market and get played alongside Taylor Swift, but this is neither good metal nor good pop. It started to feel like I was walking through a large corporate grocery store. I don't know if this safe poppy sound can make them any money, but either way I wish they wouldn't sound like this if I give them a listen.

Unpopular opinion of the day, delivered by me. ... See More

I was certain this was going to be another great album by Esoctrilihum, but it was better than I even hoped. Definitely the best I've heard from him so far.

This is blackened death metal but it's so unique and different from any other blackened death metal band I've heard. The mind-warping spectral feelings in the instruments and cryptic vocals bring mutating and unearthly images to mind. This album stands out because I started seeing more detailed and vast scenes than usual. This time it was opulent palaces full of the unexplainable technology of alien specters. There were clear stone structures, glowing objects, and light from unknown sources.

The style this time is the most similar to Dy'th Requiem for the Serpent Telepath, and the cover art foretells of that, and that painting could not be better. I wonder if anyone can find me a better use of a blue & red color scheme in any art anywhere. Sexy, scary, imaginative, and empowering.

This is 2 hours of music that will put to shame almost any combination of 2 or 3 other albums that add up to the same amount of time. From the first track to the last track, my thinking was, 'yes, more, more, more.' My last little note is that this artist plays around with existing language - weaving in imaginary language - with more creativity and flair than anyone else in metal. ... See More

The short story is that it's a bad album and I don't recommend it.

The long story is a lot more complicated, since there are some positive aspects to this album. for a couple of early songs there is a rather nice bluesy & bouncy groove. Though the singer doesn't have such a high level of vocal ability, the way he uses his voice on most of these songs is rather pleasant, and when echo and some other effects are added to the singing, it's done in a tasteful way. Even though the singing is one of the positive points, there are still some problems with it.

A few times here & there you'll find too much singing crammed into a chorus, but the bigger problem is what he's singing; there are some embarrassingly bad lyrics here. "I didn't realize that time alone meant time with him"? Ouch Godsmack guys. You were supposed to be past that middle school level of cringiness 25 years ago. Also, track 6 is Hell's Not Dead, but hell is a place, so what the hell are you talking about? There's more pain, but I'll move on to the instrumentation, which is kind of bad for about half of the album.

A lot of these song sound like The Foo Fighters, but edgier and not as well played and not as well written. The buildups to the choruses are mostly so corny and so dad rock, and it all reminds me of how commercial this album is. At it's worst it turns into butt rock, which unfortunately is a thing.

Overall, it's noticeably better than their hit self-titled album but it still has major flaws. On commercial albums like this, the well established bands walk into the studio and record anything they want, and no one tells them or explains to them why some choices they're making are just bad. Independent guys on bandcamp who record in their bedroom have a better track record, so why do record labels exist? ... See More

Major respect is due to Obituary considering how it's almost 40 years and nothing on this album feels forced, and nothing is lazy or awkward either. Very few bands can keep up this level of solid quality and listenable songwriting for 45 minutes straight when they're this old. I get a clear sense that the band and the recording staff all took the album totally seriously while in the studio.

There is a limit to how good the end product gets though. Most melodies are very very simple, and it's Obituary's trademark, but so much simplicity did bring me to Mediocre Town for a few moments. Keeping it simple has brought them a solid fanbase and a discography with no major mistakes, but I also started hearing how their songwriting stays so amazingly far away from taking risks. After all these years, can't they envision doing something just a tiny bit weird and envision it working out well?

While it's also not risk-taking, I really enjoyed the last song going into full-on doom. Well, with those vocals, I guess that makes it death doom but anyway, it was one of the better parts of the album, and the most surprising. After deciding on my score, I watched a couple of reviews, and the consensus is that the self titled album is a tiny bit better than this one, so I really look forward to listening to that one some time. For now I'll say that Dying of Everything is for me a little more enjoyable than the legendary Cause of Death.

Not to say it in a way that insults the band, but the album cover of Dying of Everything is without a doubt artwork of the highest level, and I think a lot of us know the name Lewandowski. Well, I can't stop staring at. It follows a narrative and right-to-left flow that creates a very strong spatial theme. However, with the placement of the sun, the enormous size difference between the marching figures and the lone person in the foreground, and with the inscrutable nature of the light blue building - all these things contradict or maybe question the spatial theme or storyline that feels so solid at first glance. In other words, are the marching figures being executed in the building, or are they injuring it, or both? This questioning aspect of the painting is a high-quality tool for criticizing humanity's faults and weaknesses. Thank you Mr. Lewandowski, and rest in peace. ... See More