DISCOG DISSECTION: Nott - "The Wretched Sounds" to "As All Is Undone"

 

🎤 Artist: Nott
📍 Location: Seattle, Washington
🎼 Genre: Death metal / metalcore / doom
💿 Studio albums ranked: 3
 
 
For this next instalment of Discog Dissection, the focus today is on Seattle, Washington duo Nott. Ostensibly, the act seem to begin as the creative endeavour of founder, principal songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Tyler Campbell.
 
Now on their third full-length, they developed into a fully-fledged live act and, judging by the clips I have seen online, the addition of drummer Julia Geaman was an absolute masterstroke. Released on 4 September 2026 via our friends at Silent Pendulum Records, As All Is Undone is easily their strongest album to date, at least from my perspective. Following multiple listens, I decided to dive into their back catalogue to get a sense of their beginnings, how their sound may have changed over time, and how they developed into the juggernaut they have become today.
 
According to their bio, Nott occupy a brutal space where dissonant death metal, doom and sludge collide. That description feels particularly appropriate given the sheer weight of their music. There is an oppressive quality to their sound, but also enough variation in dynamics and atmosphere to make the experience feel like far more than simply an exercise in heaviness.
 
What I particularly enjoyed about this deep dive was hearing that sound develop across three successive records. The foundations are there on The Wretched Sounds, they become increasingly established on Hiraeth, and then, for me, everything comes together on As All Is Undone.
 
Going backwards through the catalogue also gave me a better appreciation of where Nott started and the progression that followed. Whilst all three albums clearly belong to the same creative vision, As All Is Undone feels like the most complete representation of what Nott have developed into.
 
Ultimately, that is exactly why I enjoy doing these Discog Dissection features. The ranking is obviously part of it, but it is equally about exploring the journey between records and hearing how an artist's identity develops over time. In Nott's case, As All Is Undone initially caught my attention, but exploring the records that preceded it gave me a much greater appreciation of the project as a whole.
 
Honestly, Nott have made a considerable impression on me during this deep dive. As All Is Undone remains comfortably my favourite of the three, but each record contributes something to the story of how they arrived at this point. If you haven't already heard them, I would absolutely recommend checking them out. 

🏆 Ranking
 
🥇 1 — As All Is Undone (2026)
🥈 2 — Hiraeth (2023)
🥉 3 — The Wretched Sounds (2018)
 
📈 Share of total plays
 
📀 As All Is Undone — 59.1%
📀 Hiraeth — 20.9%
📀 The Wretched Sounds — 20.0%
 
 
📊 Nott listening stats during this deep dive:
 
🎧 Total plays: 220
 ↳ Equivalent to approximately 30.6 complete album listens
 
 
💿 As All Is Undone — 130 plays
 ↳ 18.6 album-equivalent listens
💿 Hiraeth — 46 plays
 ↳ 6.6 album-equivalent listens
💿 The Wretched Sounds — 44 plays
 ↳ 5.5 album-equivalent listens
 
 
🎵 Top tracks:
 
🔥 "Under the Weight" (As All Is Undone) — 21 plays
🔥 "Stare" (Hiraeth) — 8 plays
🔥 "The Carbon Lens" (The Wretched Sounds) — 7 plays
 
 
🏆 Most-played album: As All Is Undone — 130 plays
🔥 Most-played track: "Under the Weight" — 21 plays
 
 
💬 Discussion
 
❓ Are you a fan of Nott?
❓ How would you rank these albums?
❓ What's your favourite?

ALBUM REVIEW: Suicide Silence, “Become The Hunter”

By: Thomas Gonzales

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 14/02/2020

Label: Nuclear Blast

“Become The Hunter” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. Meltdown
2. Two Steps
3. Feel Alive
4. Love Me to Death
5. In Hiding
6. Death’s Anxiety
7. Skin Tight
8. The Scythe
9. Serene Obscene
10. Disaster Valley
11. Become the Hunter

The Review:

When approaching any review, I try to pull myself out of the fandom, and instead listen with an objective ear. However, there are occasionally bands that hold a particularly important place in my blackened metal heart, one of which is Suicide Silence.

I discovered Suicide Silence way back in the days of MySpace, where I at one point received a marketing care package from them to distribute. Somewhere in the lost ruins of my things, is a box FULL of autographed Suicide Silence EPs and posters. Sadly, years of travel and moving have buried them in obscurity…and dust. I even remember having their direct email and attempting to buy a guitar from them before they started one of their first major tours. I later saw them live on several separate occasions, with both Mitch Lucker and now Eddie Hermida. Yes, this is a mild humble brag, and my love of this band may even deter some readers from continuing, but the context is important to understanding just how much of an impact Suicide Silence has had on the extreme metal scene. For many, SS were the gateway into heavier subgenres, listeners like me in particular.

 “Become the Hunter” will be considered by many the first proper follow-up to “You Can’t Stop Me”, as 2017’s self-titled release “Suicide Silence”, was such a drastic departure from their style that it could hardly be considered more than an experiment. Draped in controversy amongst various metal fandoms, Suicide Silence always seems on the wrong side of community; too Core to be Death metal, and sometimes, too Death Metal to be core. “Become the Hunter” continues this trend, but in a far more palatable fashion, there’s a little something for everyone to enjoy here.

Drawing from their extensive library of sound, SS implements techniques from all throughout the entirety of their discography on their latest release. Tracks like “Two Steps” and “Serene Obscene” sound like they could’ve come straight off “No Time to Bleed” or “The Black Crown”, while tracks like “In Hiding” and “Running on Empty” harken back to their early Brutal Death Metal days. Rounding it all out, there’s a refreshing dash of blackened influence across most tracks.

What may surprise many listeners, is that Suicide Silence did NOT completely abandon the hard rock/heavy metal approach from “Suicide Silence”, but instead interwove it into something quite refreshing. “Skin Tight” may be the standout title from “Become the Hunter”; starting out with an atmospheric almost Deftones style verse, then blasting into a blistering Deathcore chorus, to then give way to a crunchy slam inspired bridge. It’s drastic, energetic, and down right energizing, a real (head)banger of a song. It’s these sensibilities that keep fans coming back for more.

Never content with following the pack, Suicide Silence continues to try and direct the flow. Sometimes they fall short, and other times they change the course of metal. Regardless of the critical reception, at the end of the day, they are always leaving an impact in their wake. Thankfully, with a return to form, “Become the Hunter” may be their best release to date. Adept in execution, and diverse in approach, Suicide Silence are back, and better than ever!

“Become The Hunter” is available HERE

Band info: facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Lorna Shore, "Immortal"

By: Thomas Gonzales

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 31/01/2020

Label: Century Media Records

“Immortal” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. Immortal
2. Death Portrait
3. This Is Hell
4. Hollow Sentence
5. Warpath Of Disease
6. Misery System
7. Obsession
8. King Ov Deception
9. Darkest Spawn
10. Relentless Torment

The Review:

Lorna Shore return in full force with what may be their purest vision yet. Formed in 2010, Lorna Shore have garnered a dedicated fan base, and for well deserved reasons. With the release of “Immortal”, founding band members Adam De Micco & Austin Archery have cemented themselves amongst the elite of extreme metal. Not content with simple scene labels and contrived stylization, Lorna Shore seeks to break the mold with a blistering assault of sonic ferocity.

Following not one, but TWO lineup changes since “Flesh Coffin”, “Immortal” almost didn't see the light of day, however, through dedication to their craft, Lorna Shore's remaining members were adamant about exposing their art to the masses. For anyone who followed the band's social media accounts, you may well be aware of the effort behind this album, and the sincerity expressed in its composition.

Founding member Tom Barber split from the band for Chelsea Grin in 2018, and was replaced by CJ McCreery of Signs of the Swarm fame in 2019, bringing with him his destructive style of deathcore vocalization. McCreery was later fired at the end of 2019. Often times sounding like he's gargling a mouthful of skulls, McCreery is an excellent accent to the already fluid sound of Lorna Shore. It’ll be a shame not to have him in future releases, but be confident that there is enough talent at the heart of the band to more than continue the legacy.

Bending Metal sub-genres at every opportunity, Lorna Shore manages to expand beyond their fan bestowed classification of Deathcore, and instead craft a dynamic assimilation of styles…resistance is futile. Drawing inspiration from such categories as Blackened & Melodic Death Metal, and Slam, the group manages to craft a spellbinding and hauntingly dark soundscape, without sacrificing the brutality they’ve become known for in the extreme metal world. Machine gun bass kicks and screaming lead guitars overlay epic swelling synths, and choral arrangements, while bestial scream and growls utterly eradicate the listener into a state of wicked ecstasy. It’s these dramatic shifts that really separates “Immortal” from Lorna Shore's previous works.

“Immortal” is a release that almost wasn’t, one that had to overcome doubt and adversity to see the light of day, and the world is damn lucky it did. There is a lot of complex and intuitive song writing to be appreciated on this release, and it would be no surprise to see it wind up on many year end Metal lists. If you haven’t been listening, this is the time to give them a shot, don’t let the useless labels deter you, Lorna Shore is so much more than just another Deathcore Band, and “Immortal” is far too savage to be ignored.

Band info: facebook

A Trust Unclean - ‘Reality Relinquished’ EP (Review)

‘The whole EP is so energetic, inspiration seems to bleed from every available crevice; here is a band basking in a creative flourish.’

Album Type: EP

Date Released: 07/08/2015

Label: Self Released 

‘Reality Relinquished’ EP track  listing:  

1). Enucleation”
2). “Feckless Traditions”
3). “Perverse Agenda”
4). “Insipient Catastrophe”
5). “Reality Relinquished

A Trust Unclean

Joe Corky | Vocals

Steve Hunt | Guitar

Mikey Gee | Guitar

Bobby Hembrow| Bass

Scott Horne | Drums

Review:

Music such as this is savage by design, and with a name like A Trust Unclean, you expect this band’s sonic assault to be as rough and splintering as a hangover after a four day absinthe binge. But what has surprised me with the Oxfordshire band’s ‘Reality Relinquished’ EP is just how much character lurks in their overtly guttural and uncivilised demeanour.  Never at any point do they get lost in that unquenched desire to be heavier than Satan’s bollocks and forget about the key assets in melody, structure and imagination. The songs snap every which way, like Steve Irwin – God bless his crazy, crazy soul – wrestling an unsuspecting alligator, but the way, in which these compositions are constructed, you end up sucked into its ebb and flow almost instantly. 

‘Perverse Agenda’ is underpinned by low strung grooves which are interjected by Joseph Corcoran’s hoarse vocals and fly-in-a-glass whizzing fret board runs. The whole EP is so energetic, inspiration seems to bleed from every available crevice; here is a band basking in a creative flourish.

Blast beats, when you venture down heavier roads such as this, can so often be an all-out matter of quantity outweighing quality. But here, especially on ‘Incipient Catastrophe’, Scott Horne’s footwork is deft, intricate and all over the place, tighter than a gnats arse yet so fluent. It gives the songs a chaotic undercurrent, but a chaos that is well organised and executed. It’s these stuttered rhythms, despite the crushing countenance of the overlaying guitars that give this record so much of that aforementioned character. Without it, this would just be a heavy record, another one for the pile of ‘just noise without anything going for it’ records in existence.   

On the title track it is guitarists Steve Hunt and Mikey Gee who impress the most. From the pained lead lines to the Gojira pick scrapes, bursts of tremolo picking and all-round complexity – the tab of this no doubt resembling something akin to a child let loose with a label gun – here are two guitarists with their heads firmly leading, their macro intellect and vision the way. Showmanship isn’t really an egotistical presence here, for any of the musicians. This is a collective effort and, yes, there are moments of brilliant individualism, but it is as a collective where they are strongest, no one ever takes the limelight for more than each particular section requires.

With five songs all either three or four or five minutes long, the EP flies by. It’s a wham-bam-thank-you-mam of technical and devastating death metal. The juxtaposing smile that broadens your gob while listening speaks volumes. Honestly speaking, I’m not too enamoured by this end of the metal spectrum – it’s something I dip in and out of from time to time – so for a band of this calibre to capture my imagination, to have me excited as this record does is, from a personal stand point at least, a pretty darn good achievement.

It is heavier than Satan’s bollocks, but it’s fun and very well written too.

Words: Phil Weller

For more information:

Like: www.facebook.com/atrustunclean

Follow: https://twitter.com/atrustuncleanuk