Blackened deathcore has truly run its course. This is simultaneously a hopeful sentiment, as it may encourage bands to explore new ideas, but also a sad one, because so few bands have actually created music that resembles the genre’s namesake. For every A Wake in Providence, there are twenty more bands flailing around with crappy production, boring synths, and chugga-wugga breakdowns that induce eye-rolls every time. Vegas-based Ov Sulfur sits somewhere between the two on their sophomore release, Endless. Featuring genuinely blackened elements in their sound, the band puts greater focus on melody and clean singing, bringing them much closer to… dare I say, blackened metalcore? If that genre makes you retch on sight, fair. For the curious, I would say you will be rewarded, but approach with caution. Everybody else, go read a different review.
On Endless, Ov Sulfur refines the sound from their debut, which I genuinely could not stand (No offense, Thus Spoke). It says a lot that I found myself frequently enjoying the band’s take on blackened deathcore. Songs are generally tight, if formulaic, but they focus much more on riffs, and there is a surprising amount of blackened death metal in there. “Seed” features legit black metal riffing that leads into chainsaw-worship blackened death tremolo alongside brutal double-bass kicks. These elements are a mainstay across the album, which kept me going throughout Endless. Before you get too excited, the chorus comes in strong on “Seed,” and while Ricky Hoover’s cleans are perfectly servicable, this is just the tip of the iceberg on Endless. Tracks like “Seed,” “Forlorn,” and “Vast Eternal” are solid, but they all follow a tired formula. The backing riff on the chorus of “Seed” and “Forlorn” sounds almost identical, and every song is brought to a standstill by downright sleepy breakdowns. Even the album intro track is the comically overused “here is a breakdown, but it keeps getting slower,” that feels like a staple on every deathcore release these days.
Endless isn’t without its redeeming qualities. Ricky Hoover’s vocals are genuinely great across the album. His cleans are surprisingly decent, even if a little “butt-rock” in his own words. His harsh vocals are clear and well-enunciated, making for surprisingly catchy moments even at the heaviest of times. “Vast Eternal” shows his speed, and his highs are crisp, avoiding the screeching heights that are devoid of technique. This is clearly a veteran vocalist doing his thing. The rest of the band keeps pace, and even more surprisingly for a deathcore band, there are tons of riffs on Endless. “Forlorn” starts with a sweeping, tapping intro and goes right into a groovy, blackened death slammer. Guitarists Chase Wilson and Christian Becker put the work in, and the album is filled with a delightful amount of axe heroics. There are even honest-to-goodness solos on this thing. The drums are a highlight too, and the album is full of double-bass brutality. Leviathvn (ooft) goes wild on the kit, and this band has no lack of passion, as mentioned in our previous review.
Time for the corpse-paint-wearing elephant in the room. Endless features, not one, but two ballads. First, halfway through the album with “Wither” and then the final track “Endless//Loveless”. The former is a heartfelt dirge for Hoover’s lost grandparents, with an adorable intro and outro soundbite from them that genuinely elevates the track. The track is a solid, if uninspired ballad that features decent cleans from Hoover and bassist Josh Bearden that may genuinely induce tears for those with close relations to lost loved ones. “Endless//Loveless” is the opposite. A hangnail of a track that didn’t even need to end up on the album, killing the finale after a string of Endless’ best tracks (”Bleak,” “Dread,” and “A World Away”) and featuring some truly cliché lyrics like “loving you is like holding onto water.” Lastly, the production is crushed which is disappointing coming from a major lablel. Synths drown out riffs frequently, and at this point, it seems to be a genre standard.
With Ov Sulfur’s sophomore album, they come back tighter, more focused, and better for it. Despite this, no amount of struggling will free them of the mire that is blackened deathcore. The strict adherence to genre trappings hangs like an albatross around the neck of a band that clearly wants to be making more emotionally driven, melodic music. With Endless, you get a refined, tightly played record that exemplifies the better parts of the genre, but it is so worn out that you may find yourself moving on before you get past the tired, cliche intro. Ov Sulfur have crafted an infinitely better album in Endless, but it is made for the adherents of the genre, and little else.
Rating: Mixed
DR: 4 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Century Media
Websites: facebook.com/ovsulfur | instagram.com/ovsulfur
Releases Worldwide: January 16th, 2026
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