Domain “Life’s Cold Grasp” Review
Domain has spent the last few years becoming a new dominant force in the Florida hardcore scene. Birthed in the pandemic, the band released a pair of EPs in quick succession in 2020’s Embodiment of Fear and 2021’s Persevere Through Suffering. The rare band to seemingly find their sound before anyone had heard a single song, these EPs showcased a brand new band sounding confident and utterly destructive, boasting a sound that fell somewhere between icons such as Integrity and Hatebreed with a more modern approach to songwriting. Since releasing these two EPs, the band has seemingly been hard at work on their debut LP Life’s Cold Grasp - an absolutely unrelenting record that takes everything that worked for the band previously and perfects it.
The album opens with “Victory in Slaughter,” a song so heavy and destructive it feels utterly cataclysmic. Without wasting any time, the track moves between hardcore, death metal, and metalcore elements with ease; sounding less like the band is hopping between genres and more like they are equally students of all three sounds. The ending of this track is an immediate standout moment, with the final breakdown introduced by an earth-shattering bass and drum groove before the whole band joins in with impressively tight chugging guitars and a commanding vocal performance. The band expands the riff as the song reaches its final moments, seamlessly transitioning into the title track “Life’s Cold Grasp.” This track shows the band continuing to embrace death metal elements, weaving tremolo-picked guitars and double bass into the song to break up the massive chugging guitar parts without losing an ounce of momentum. First single “Spores of Industry” follows at a frantic pace, and vocalist Alex Rothberger and Scarab’s Tyler Mullen trade off vocal duties flawlessly, playing to both vocalists’ strengths over one of the most chaotic and blood-boiling instrumentals on the record.
Album standout “Ballad of Fallen Angels” shows the band embracing this fusion of death metal and hardcore in nearly equal parts, with some lightning fast blast beats in the verses giving way to an absolutely maniacal breakdown to end the track. Final single “Noix et Boules” is next, and while it may be one of the more stylistically straightforward tracks on the record, it more than makes up for it as one of the most visceral songs present. “Noix et Boules” is also full of deceivingly smart songwriting choices - from the subtle pauses in the intro riff to the guitar harmonies before the song ends by descending into absolute mayhem. The clean guitar introduction to “Chaos Reigns” sets an ominous tone for the rest of the track, which quickly gives way to one of the tightest and meanest sounding mosh parts on the album. The verses reign in some of the band’s more chaotic tendencies and truly allow the vocals room to shine without taking a backseat. In between these more methodical moments are some blisteringly fast riffs, culminating in a final breakdown that has to be heard to be believed.
The punishing “Suffer to Believe” opens with one of the best and most unique guitar riffs on the album, and the menacing grooves of “Divine Intervention” are equal parts formidable and addicting. “Corrode” tears through at a frantic pace, and is truly one mosh part after another, held together by a slew of tremolo picking and double bass, resulting in one of the most impressively heavy tracks on the record. Domain closes out Life’s Cold Grasp with a new version of “No Escape/Crimson World” from Embodiment of Fear, and the decision to merge these tracks into one results in an over five minute behemoth that somehow manages to never overstay its welcome. This sentiment is true for the record as a whole - clocking in at just shy of 27 minutes, Life’s Cold Grasp flies by, and does not waste a single moment of its runtime. Truly relentless and uncompromisingly aggressive, Domain have come through with one hell of a debut album in Life’s Cold Grasp.
9/10
