Auckland's Ulcerate are one of our country's most overlooked success stories; electrifying crowds at home as well as making serious inroads into heavy metal's spiritual homeland of Europe. If they had a strong following before then their new album, Vermis, is bound to rocket them to even greater heights.
It is a record of world-class death metal with a homegrown edge. Our geographic isolation often inspires us to be innovative and Ulcerate are a fine example of this. Rather than be bogged down in metal's dogma they bend and shape the genre to their nefarious will. The result is gloriously heavy, genuinely thrilling, and teeming with demonic intent. From the tortured opening strains of 'Odium' - the relative calm before the storm - to the sensory overload of 'Await Rescission', you are treated to their concoction of cascading riffs, punishing heaviness, and the monstrous howls of Paul Kelland.
Vermis is released through the well regarded Relapse records which puts them in the company of some of the genre's greats. Ulcerate are moving from strength to strength and it is only a matter of time before they take their rightful place at the top of the world.
