Review: Bermuda – The Wandering

Artist: Bermuda
Album: The Wandering
Genre: Deathcore/Nu-Metal
Label: Mediaskare Records

Last March Bermuda released their EP Isolationist(s). The album was met with mixed reviews, but with the unanimous opinion that it was most definitely some of the most brutal metal released within the last couple years. Now, a year later the same opinion could be agreed upon for Bermuda’s full length follow-up and debut The Wandering. Despite the album’s title, The Wandering is a rioting runaway train headed straight for your brain. However, instead of hitting the pleasure center,  The Wandering just barely misses and instead ends up bouncing around, giving you a bit of a headache.

The reason for this metal migraine is that the album resembles a skewed bell curve. Meaning that the first four tracks blend together to form a metal maelstrom of dense, muddy guitars that berate and beat you and primeval, guttural vocals that sound like the very Earth is being torn asunder. Unfortunately, there is little to no variation between these tracks giving the album’s opening a very one note feel.

It’s not until “Sachael” and its instrumental build up “Lost at Sea” that The Wandering really begins to develop a varied sound. As if to make up for lost time, the latter half of The Wandering finds Bermuda bombastically crafting intricate guitar melodies, injecting a broad landscape of dynamics and doing it all with such skill. It’s frustrating that the band did not treat the album’s opening with such creativity.

The Wandering suffers from a few flaws, but if nothing else Bermuda have crafted an aggressively loud, aggressively enjoyable album. Definitely worth a spin and a couple fist pumps.

Score: 6/10
Review written by: Ethan Merrick

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