Delaware hardcore heavyweights Simulakra have returned with Reincarnation, a monstrously heavy and supremely pissed off EP that makes a statement of every moment of its all-too-brief roughly eleven minute runtime. Blending hardcore and death metal into a blisteringly fast sonic onslaught that stands in a league of its own, Simulakra have raised the bar once again due to their ability to put such sheer power on display without losing the ability to simply write a great song.

Opener “Dead on the Cross” is the perfect introduction to the release - a mammoth of a track complete with immediately memorable vocal hooks and punishing walls of palm muted guitars and double bass. Flying through its sections at breakneck speed, the song resolves in the first of many breakdowns on Reincarnation designed to inspire immense violence in the pit. Lead single “Heathen’s Prayer” largely follows suit, immediate and unrelenting in its ferocity, and bursting at the seams with some of the best hardcore riffs to be released so far this year.

Highlight “Sanctify” leans more heavily on the band’s death metal influences, but miraculously manages to not sound out of place in the tracklisting. Towards the end of the song, the band brings back the riff from its start, and slowly begins disassembling it into a breakdown that needs to be heard to be believed. “Burning Soul” is the other side of Simulakra’s sound on full display - clocking in under a minute and a half, this song is a metallic hardcore behemoth that levels everything in its path. The EP comes to a close with the utterly unrestrained “S.I.T.A.” The longest track on the EP, “S.I.T.A.” is the culmination of everything that preceded it, and is a strong contender for the hardest song of 2024 so far, with a breakdown of utterly cataclysmic proportions to round out an already jaw-droppingly intense EP.

Simply put, Reincarnation is Simulakra at their best yet - fast, ruthless, and disgustingly heavy. Innovative without feeling the need to reinvent the wheel, this is everything that a modern metallic hardcore release should be.

10/10