Band:	Succumb
Album:	Succumb
Style:	Death metal
Release date:	May 05, 2017
A review by:	Auntie Sahar

01. The Initiate
02. Destroyer II
03. Bedchambers
04. Survival
05. Seedling
06. Coal Dark Earth
07. The Flood

Death metal has made quite the impressive comeback in the 2010s. Though still present, the wave of grandpa metaller bands trying to replicate what worked for the genre 20 years ago, as well as the widdly diddly tech death wankers, are finally starting to die down. In their place we're now seeing a slew of bands that... are just better, really. Bands that either smash down every conceivable boundary in their way, like Chaos Echœs, or even ones that might not be all that original but still deliver a hard hitting sound with an unquestionably modern update (Obliteration, Gatecreeper, etc). Bands like Succumb.

Boy, has this band hit the ground running. Hailing from San Francisco, this four piece beast only just awakened from the grimy pits of R'lyeh this year, and they've already got a full length debut under their belts. The youngins in Succumb employ a chaotic, noisey, and all around dirty brand of death metal, drenched in a disgusting, gritty layer of black metal for good measure. Overall the music may not be that original in terms of new things being brought to the table, but the songwriting is considerably on point. Snaking its way through various tempos and alternating amounts of death and black metal influence, the music here shifts between frantic barrages one second, groovy bangers another moment, and slow, painfully crushing segments the next. Succumb's slower moments especially are those that bring out their black metal side the most, making the music approach borderline blackened doom vibes on occasion as well.

A summary of Succumb's self titled debut would of course be incomplete, however, without mentioning the impressively distinct vocals of Cheri Musrasrik. This charismatic frontwoman knows how to make clean vocals work for death metal. With her high energy, yelling-like approach, that's mixed very well to the point of sort of blending into the music rather than overpowering it, the music of Succumb only becomes more shadowy and ensnaring than it already is. I'm honestly reminded a bit of Urfaust here, in terms of how surprisingly well Succumb have made clean vocals work in a genre in which they're rather atypical. To make things even better, growls are indeed present as well from bassist Kirk Spasseff. The trick though is that they're often delivered quietly under Cheri, to sort of create this ominous, imposing atmosphere bubbling underneath the rest of the music, that certainly leaves a powerful impact.

This first effort from Succumb may not be the most original in terms of bringing new ideas to the table, but it certainly is with regards to its combination of different, at times unexpected songwriting techniques. The band may not be blending every possible genre into their formula and creating postmodern death metal or something like that, but that's fine, because their music still packs a punch and is all around meaner, more memorable, and just better written than that of many of their contemporaries. Keep your eye on this pack, as they're one to watch.

Easy candidate for debut of the year. Succumb to Succumb.