Ov Sulfur – ‘The Burden Ov Faith’

When Ricky Hoover – he of Suffokate and extreme earlobe fame – revealed the logo for his new band Ov Sulfur, the reaction from across the deathcore scene was rabid. A sold out (and upgraded) debut show at the Freemont Country Club in their native Las Vegas preceded the band’s 2021 EP ‘Oblivion’ and their fanbase was growing fast. 

Now, with ‘The Burden Ov Faith’, Hoover continues his career-long quest to bring down religion as a whole and delivers a demonic sermon with the ominous intensity of a blazing church. ‘Stained In Rot’ lays the band’s intentions bare – a speeding cavalcade of influence, encompassing guttural lows, piercing highs and soaring cleans over a bed of metalcore, d-beat, black metal and melodic death metal instrumentation. It’s a restless and daunting opening that elicits plenty of stank faces and the final breakdown is chest-crushingly breathtaking.

‘Death Ov Circumstance’ meanwhile concerns itself with taking down religious leaders, making Hoover’s anti-religion stance painfully clear. “They’re thought to serve the higher / But all they care for is themselves / Narcissistic prophet / Hellbent on torturous obedience” doesn’t leave much room for interpretation, and his venomous delivery is deeply affecting whatever your personal viewpoint. 

Of course, anti-religion in heavy music is nothing new. From the black metal church burnings that swept Norway in the early 90s, to the likes of Belphegor and Goatwhore relying heavily on godless messaging and all things evil, it’s been a prevalent inspiration for many members of metal’s more extreme reaches – hell, Deicide literally just put out an album called ‘Bible Bashers’, for god’s sake. Hoover’s personal experience though is what really propels ‘The Burden Ov Faith”s content, and tracks like ‘Earthen’ are heaving with the emotion and trauma that can only be informed by reality. In this instance, it’s the loss of his 16-year-old nephew to cancer; “what kind of God would test a child?” the lyrics ask pleadingly, incredulously. 

While Ov Sulfur’s sonic weapon of choice sits firmly in the brutal and bruising camp, Hoover’s vocal flexibility takes the content to another level. He has always been talented – he had the chops to perform vocals at Mitch Lucker’s memorial concert and has kept pace with some of the scene’s most trailblazing voices – but his performance across these 10 tracks is another massive step up.

It may also be the reason why they’ve managed to furnish this debut studio album with some seriously impressive guest features, too. Slaughter To Prevail’s Alex Terrible concludes ‘Befouler’ with the apocalyptic vocals that have become the masked madman’s trademark. Later on, they enlist the unmistakable services of Howard Jones (Light The Torch, ex-Killswitch Engage) to elevate ‘Wide Open’ to new epic realms. Additional features from the likes of Taylor Barber (Left To Suffer), Kyle Medina (Bodysnatcher) and Lindsay Schoolcraft (ex-Cradle Of Filth) are testament to Ov Sulfur’s already-impressive reputation.

When ‘The Burden Ov Faith’ works, it really works. And that’s precisely the issue with this album, because when it misses the mark, there is a clear gulf between each end of the scale. ‘The Inglorious Archetype’ is one such shortfall: trying to squeeze as much into the track as possible, it ends up feeling like a shopping list of ideas that were started but never finished and hastily stapled together. Or the ‘A Path To Salvation’ interlude leading into ‘I Apostate’ which just grinds everything to a halt and makes the middle of the album clunky and unwieldy. If the highlights are an easy jaunt down the River Styx, these tracks are the boat capsizing and drowning you.

At a time when it seems as if every deathcore band in existence is trying to one-up each other (thank you, Will Ramos) Ov Sulfur is another worthy player entering the game. Their heft is undeniable and when it’s focused, it is staggering to behold. When it doesn’t though, it gets gimmicky. Nevertheless, ‘The Burden Ov Faith’ offers up some essential listening for fans of blackened deathcore. Here’s to hoping they stick around and continue to build.

JACK TERRY