Do I like metalcore? I’ve always struggled a bit with this question. That’s a terrible way to start a review of any variety, but it’s a question I’ve kept coming back to since discovering Tyraels Ascension, a metalcore group from the United States, and their sophomore full-length, Grave Seeker. Metalcore has so much energy to it, all mixed up with frustration, anger, sadness, joy—on paper, very much my cup of tea. So every once in a while, I’m happy to sit down, grab whatever -core the cool kids are talking about these days, and see what happens. Grave Seeker has all of the above qualities and more, so what happens when we put it all together?

Liveliness is what happens—you get a lively record. Grave Seeker shows Tyraels Ascension at excitable peaks, with bombastic energy flying at your face from minute one. “No End in Sight” gives you a good idea of what to expect quickly, with duelling guitars, raspy shouts backed with growls, and a ton of excess energy. “The Summoning” shows Tyraels Ascension riffing with sleekness in their souls, while “Darkened Soul” shows off a burlier, more in-your-face side to the band. Occasionally some clean singing pokes through (“No End in Sight,” “The Summoning”) and there’s the odd piano (“Tears,” “Bittersweet”), but for the most part the songs are brief (3-5 minutes), guitar-driven, riff-tastic constructions.

That’s the primary strength of Grave Seeker, really: guitarists Sean Searls and Kevin McNeil, supported by Adam Bodkin’s bass, are mighty forces for Tyraels Ascension. Their mournful leads make “Bittersweet” a song that lives up to its title and “Impossible Decisions” an adventure. By contrast, vocalist Alex Theesen has a tougher challenge; his style of rasping shouts confine him to a certain range of emotive performance that the duelling guitars help round out. In the aforementioned “Impossible Decisions,” for example, the guitars get the song off to a roaring start, fast-paced and very strong. Drummer Brandon Dorman sets a great pace, and everyone’s keeping up. When the chorus hits, Theesen shouts with all he’s got, but it feels like he wants to hit a more melodic feel than his style allows for. The guitars adopt a more mellow, melodeath-esque melody that gives the moment the added weight and catharsis to make it all work.

What’s interesting about Tyraels Ascension is that they feel, at times, like they’re reaching across that blurry line that separates metalcore and melodeath. Theesen’s style is unmistakably -core, and the vocals all but cement the subgenre by themselves. But take the vocals away—as happens in the comparatively epic “Tyraels Curse”¹—and the feel changes completely. Similarly, Gave Seeker features a handful of quiet, more emotional moments that Theesen’s approach is just too burly for (the interlude in “No End in Sight” is a perfect example; he can only really narrate-sing-growl these moments and it just doesn’t work, despite the beautiful guitar lead). This friction between multidimensional instrumentals that breathe ranges of emotion and a vocalist whose primary focus is power holds Grave Seeker back—though which way is preferable will, of course, be up to the individual listener.

Grave Seeker is an adventurous album with some really good songs, a host of impressive guitar work, and a recognizable concept that I’ve come to really enjoy. With that said, I do have some mixed feelings about the full fifty-three-minute experience. For my part, it sounds like Tyraels Ascension are still working towards exactly what their sound is. But Grave Seeker is confident, fun, and enjoyable enough that I’m looking forward to seeing what they’ll come up with next.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Rotweiller Records
Websites: tyraelsascension.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/TyraelsAscension
Releases Worldwide: July 24th, 2026

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