This Ending – Needles of Rust (Black Lion Records)

Thursday, 17th June 2021
Rating: 7.5/10

Five years now removed from their third full-length, Garden of Death, the Swedish melodic death metal purists of This Ending are back with another round of the good stuff. And by good stuff, of course that’s some ripping old school melodic death metal done right. Needles of Rust does exactly what you’d expect it to do, and quite frankly, it’s all that it needs to do.

This Ending has always been about harkening back to the times of melodic death metal where the big, heavy riffing and melodies go hand in hand, and Needles of Rust delivers it with plenty of finesse. “My Open Wound” brings out all of the guns rapidly as the blastbeats and thrashy tempos buzz away intensely. Later bringing out more melodies without diminishing the breakneck pacing, and getting the listener ready for the very deathly onslaught to come. Slight bits of blackened melodies help sharpen the edges of the act at their fastest, such as on “Embraced by the Night” or “Devastate,” and the band acknowledges that they can’t just plow away with blastbeats to make for an interesting listen. The title track offers some respite and melody along with a solid case of thrashing and groove, which is also echoed by the closer “Hell to Hell,” which provides an even greater sense of melodic current with just a hint of longing as well.

All is well with This Ending and Needles of Rust. It packs a powerful punch for those seeking high quality melodic death metal at its most vicious. They continue to strengthen their resolve, even if the releases aren’t coming too quickly. But considering the current landscape for this type of melodeath, we’re happy to grab it whenever we can.

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