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Distant - Tsukuyomi: The Origin review



Reviewer:
N/A

19 users:
6.74
Band: Distant
Album: Tsukuyomi: The Origin
Style: Deathcore
Release date: November 22, 2024
A review by: Thryce


01. The Pale Moonlight
02. Fleshweaver
03. Feast Of Misery
04. Torturous Symphony [feat. Matthew K. Heafy]
05. Cradled In Shards Of Glass
06. Loveless Suffering
07. The Undying
08. The Apex
09. Acolytes Of Damnation [feat. Alex Erian]
10. Tsukuyomi [feat. Travis Worland]
11. Malice [feat. David Simonich]
12. Broken Cross

Buckle up, Chuck. It’s about to get bumpy. This is the sound of Mother Nature throwing a tantrum. Press play, and volcanoes will sprout like mushrooms, erupting all around you. The air grows thick and heavy with the chocking fumes of molten lava. Boulders are raining down past your ears... Amid the deafening noise and chaos, you pause and wonder: Can anyone still hear me BREEEEEEE?

All this to say: this album is pure hellfire. Oh, and it’s also deathcore. No, no, no – no need to get all allergic on me and click away with that ‘eww, gross’ look on your face. With this release, Distant sits firmly on the top shelf of deathcore, so rest easy. I’m here to show you once again that deathcore isn’t some unholy form of sonic witchcraft, no matter what you might still believe. So clutch your rosary beads in terror, get with the program and read on, because I have a lot of super-interesting facts lined up in this review.

For starters, did you know that in an early draft of their doomsday calendar, the Maya actually predicted the end of the world to coincide perfectly with the tenth anniversary of Dutch-Slovakian deathcore band Distant in 2024? No? Look it up, it’s all true, I’ll wait... ...Alright, now that we’ve got that out of the way, this release marks the band celebrating ten years of leaving nothing but wreckage in its wake. For this special occasion, the birthday boys decided to completely re-record and revitalize their 2017 debut EP Tsukuyomi. Paired with seven new crushing tracks of fresh carnage, you could say that Tsukuyomi: The Origin, their fourth full-length, captures the band's evolution throughout their short but savage career.

Another interesting fact: Distant clearly have some really cool friends, as they invited several special guests to their birthday party. We're talking vocalists from Trivium, Despised Icon (<3), Enterprise Earth, and Signs Of The Swarm. Sounds like the kind of party where the noise complaints arrive before the cake does, and everyone wakes up the day after with a sore throat, ringing ears, and a serious craving for an extra-large pizza. The guest appearances undeniably bring an added layer of depth and excitement to the table though. One prime example of this is “Torturous Symphony”, which stands out as one of the highlights of the album. The synergy here doesn’t just feel tacked on for the sake of a gimmick; it feels intentional and complete, adding both variety and texture to the overall experience.

Here’s another piece of mindblowing trivia. Judging by their sound, I was ready to believe that, just as the Inuit have a million words for snow, the word ‘tsukuyomi’ was some obscure Japanese term for a specific nuance of brutal – something of the ‘covering-your-balls-in-breadcrumbs-and-dipping-them-into-a-deep-fryer’ kind of brutal. However, Distant are actually way cooler and more refined that that. Turns out there's an entire lore-filled story behind the lyrics, complete with three dark fantasy novels available as e-books. Pretty neat, huh?

But wait, there’s more. Here’s another fact I may or may not have made up: Distant read Metal Storm (hi, guys!). Even better, they seem to have taken musclassia’s remarks from his review of the preceding Heritage to heart. Gone are the unnecessary (or, as the review put it, 'superficial') symphonic frills. Instead, we get more hooks and greater variation – just as the review suggested. A standout case in point is “The Undying”, which features an excellent melodic build-up and an impressive solo. Lesson learned: always listen to a Metal Storm reviewer – they clearly know what’s best for you. Now, go ahead and hit play below.

When all is said and done, the naked truth is this: Distant has become a devastating force to be reckoned with. Their signature down-tempo colossal sound is soaked in breakdowns so steep they’ll induce vertigo, yet never veer into annoyance. Riffs and blast beats come in such blistering waves, the album might as well include a complimentary tube of burn cream and a shot of straight whiskey. Vocalist Alan Grnja is an absolute madman, with gutturals so otherworldly they could probably wake the dead... and scare them right back into their graves. This album puts heavy-hitting intensity and density on full display, creating an ominous, brooding, and, at times, almost claustrophobic atmosphere. Tracks like “Loveless Suffering” and “Cradled In Shards Of Glass” hit with juggernaut bursts of ferocity so intense, they might just leave you with a full-body muscle cramp.

Putting it lightly, Distant is the kind of band that pretty much makes every other genre feel like a cozy playlist of lullabies. Once again for the people in the back: those are all facts!







Written on 29.01.2025 by Metal Stormer since 2004. Made my comeback in late 2024. Still don’t give ratings, though. The review will tell you way more than a number ever could. Just read it, disagree if you must, and we’ll yell, fight, kiss, and make up.


Comments

Comments: 3   Visited by: 22 users
03.02.2025 - 17:54
Rating: 6
musclassia
Staff
This was an entertaining and informative read, and I appreciated the shout-out to my review of their last album! While I've become quite keen on the whole symphonic deathcore moment, this kind of straight deathcore generally doesn't do much for me (leaving me stonefaced while watching bands like Distant, Cabal, AngelMaker and Vulvodynia opening for Lorna Shore or Shadow Of Intent), but I did enjoy this album over Heritage. While both obviously have a love for breakdowns, I felt like the songs on this album were actual songs, rather than sections of music idling until it had been long enough since the last breakdown to throw another one in. The actual riffs and breakdowns were also more satisfying when they arrived. It's interesting that you also picked up on the symphonic elements I mentioned in the Heritage review; as much as the bands that are going in hard on those are typically the ones I'm actually enjoying in the deathcore scene at present, I do feel like if you're gonna half-arse it, better to skip it altogether, and this album doesn't suffer from their absence.
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04.02.2025 - 15:01
RaduP
CertifiedHipster
Staff
This is now a safe space for deathcore enjoyers.

Everybody knows that "Tsukuyomi" is a that one jutsu in Naruto. Duh!
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Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking
One day there will be no heart at all?
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07.02.2025 - 00:08
Rating: 7
X-Ray Rod
Skandino
Staff
I tend to enjoy my deathcore much more without an orchestra backing them up. But I also can not listen to deathcore over long periods of time because the type I enjoy the most is also the type that you can get bored of due to lack of variation. But if the performance is nice enough then colour me excited! 15 mins now and it's working great so far. Brutal shit for sure and down-tuned deathcore always gets a pass when the bands do the slow stuff (like Black Tongue <3)

Hard to top Despised Icon and Ion Dissonance though. Checked those bands out in my late teens and they basically ruined the genre for me!
I also like old Bring Me The Horizon so I'm clearly not the right person to talk about deathcore haha.
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Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29
Like you could kiss my ass

Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
Rod, let me love you.

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