Hailing from the vast and expansive province of Alberta, Canada, and influenced by the metalcore bands like 7 Angels 7 Plagues and the Y2K era of horror video games, Serration have exploded onto the scene over the last few years with a barrage of discordant, chaotic passages and bludgeoning riffs. Now, following on from three crushing EPs, the Canadian quintet return with a crushing new album Simulations Of Hell, which is a raging introspective record that tackles a plethora of subjects ranging from brainwashing to worshiping materialistic items to feelings of guilt. Through the bombardment of ballistic riffs and fevered screaming, Serration certainly make you think about the world around you.
Across the eight intense, insane and ruthlessly expressive tracks Serration begin to stamp their authority in the worlds of hardcore and metalcore. With songs featuring the likes of Emma Boster of Dying Wish (‘A Suicide Note in Midi Format’) and David Blom of Sanction (‘Altar of Guilt’) aren’t pulling any punches with this album. First and foremost Simulations Of Hell is a chaotic, ruthless and barbaric sounding album, interspersed with 2000s sounds which create a strangely nostalgic yet tense, thriller movie atmosphere.
Following on from their split EP with Dying Wish and their compilation album Shrine of Consciousness, you can hear the progression in Serration’s sound. Altogether it sounds more punishing, with everything sounding more cohesive Serration deliver an incredibly tight performance. The album also shows Serration’s more atmospheric side, as the sombre, eerie interlude tracks ‘Dried Flowers Bathed In Tears’ and ‘Of The Shapes Of Humans and Hearts’ offer brief respite from the hardcore chaos but still keep you on edge.
Simulations Of Hell is an album that never settles, it throws you back and forth with ease and never lets you rest for a second. The intense emotion and frantic nature of the album is an exercise in old fashioned discourse. Dissonance reigns supreme, alongside seething and visceral lyrics, Simulations Of Hell is a certified assault on the senses that leaves you exhausted in the most cathartic way. It’s a lot more nuanced than first impressions would have you believe, but ultimately is a ruthless observation of the savageness of modern living and how isolated, brainwashed and materialistic the human race currently is.
The album opens up with ‘Boreal Serpent’, a tumultuous track that slams grindcore, hardcore and metalcore altogether in 67 seconds, despite fading out with a strange electronic beat that sounds like it’s from an old PS2 horror game. The aforementioned ‘A Suicide Note in Midi Format’ featuring Emma Boster of Dying Wish continues with the unstoppable barrage of hardcore riffs, interspersed with stunning vocal melodies from Boster that unleash a heartfelt, deeply embedded pain. ‘Dried Flowers Bathed In Tears’ offers a brief moment of rest as a solemn yet ominous acoustic guitar strums a melancholic melody before the album kicks you straight in the jaw with ‘Shroud of Gnarled Tongues’.
‘Chaos Daemon’ is a discordant chord lovers dream, jarring notes sandwiched in between skull splitting chugged riffs, whilst Cody Dewald barks lyrics at you like a demented Rottweiler. This effortlessly transitions into ‘Altar of Guilt’ with David Blom of Sanction, acting almost like a part two of ‘Chaos Daemon’ it is a vehement and raging track that embodies tension and rage. The soft piano notes of ‘Of The Shapes Of Humans and Hearts’ are jarring but welcomed after that tumult of hardcore, but much like the previous interlude it is melancholic and ominous. Closing with title track ‘Simulations Of Hell’ Serration punish you one more time with a hellish track that that consolidated the album with one last punch to the gut. Serration have unleashed a demonic and hellish album upon the world, Simulations Of Hell will without a shadow of a doubt make the hardcore and metalcore worlds stand up and listen.