Just when you thought it was safe to come out from hiding behind those run-on sentence length album and song titles from the Myspace-era deathcore run, a band like Thus Spoke Zarathustra pops onto your radar. Just an instant look at the title for their second full-length album I’m Done With Self Care, It’s Time for Others’ Harm gives more than a wink and a nod at the now ‘old school’ naming format. That said, it’s been some time since anyone really came out and grabbed this scribe’s attention with the style, and it’s well done here for sure.
Chugging riffs, massive breakdowns, moments of brutal drum battery, and just enough dabbling on the metallic side brings Thus Spoke Zarathustra their strongest assets. If any one act drew a quick comparison, it would be the underrated deathcore champs Dead to Fall, for their ability to keep things decidedly on the heavier end of the deathcore spectrum but not be intimidated by playing around with some Gothenburg-inspired melodies from time to time. “The Final Blow Will Bring Blood” is a nice example of how all of this comes together. You have some glorious sounding melodies that feel like a nod to The Black Dahlia Murder (and Gothenburg indirectly), energetic two-step riffing, and of course, a breakdown that has a nice build-up associated with it. Not to mention the varied insertions of different extreme vocals into the mix. Also worth singling out is that of “I Never Believed in Magic Til My Dog Turned into a Snake,” which is full of urgent, melody-injected guitar riffing that is sure to bring a smile to your face, but also hammers down blastbeats and scorching, brutal breakdowns with glee.
Sure, it’s not really anything particularly new but I’m Done With Self Care, It’s Time for Others’ Harm captures that Myspace-era deathcore ethos with such perfectly executed finesse it’s hard to deny it as brutal yet entertaining record. Thus Spoke Zarathustra have this sound down cold, and it’s nice to hear a deathcore band throwback a bit without falling into the old traps that lesser bands dove fully into. If you’ve yearned for more of that particular sound, which seemed to have dissipated over the years, you’d be wise to check these guys out.