Pure. Death. Metal. Unmitigated and unfiltered. You feel me? The kind that makes you feel every musical stab wound and each sonic blow to the head over and over. Till you’re bleeding from the ears, nose, and anywhere else. Well, that’s the case with Dormant Ordeal and their latest record Tooth and Nail. Together for twenty years, this act produce a massive batch of sounds and a kaleidoscope of carnage that comes at you all fast and furious-like.
The first track that caught me, like a mouse in the cage, was “Horse Eater”, almost six minutes of death metal bliss. Would I have loved to be there while someone stamped out that mouse’s brain? Absolutely!! “Halo of Bones” opens things up in earnest, then “Orphans” drops the hammer on you. So much that you need a little “Solvent” to steady thyself. A 7-minute+ track that will have most of us craving blood over breakfast. This is followed up with “Dust Crown” – an all-out asskicker that takes us to “Against the Dying of the Light” which messes you up, down, and sideways before you can even wipe the blood off your nose.
“Everything That Isn’t Silence Is Trivial” might just be the coolest thing I’ve heard in 2025. It’s easily one of the year’s most killer tracks! And that will bring us to a killer closer that wraps up a fantastic record. Four albums into their career, Dormant Ordeal possess all the tools to deliver potent death metal that’s hard to forget. Go get this one and you can thank me later.
Standout Tracks: “Everything That Isn’t Silence Is Trivial”, “Horse Eater’, “Solvent”, “Dust Crown”.