Morphing and mutating their sound out of radio active collision of metallic hardcore and progressive metal, Vatican’s take no prisoners, show no mercy approach to music is equal parts brutality and complexity. With a plethora of influences coming together with bestial vigour, welded together with a forward thinking mentality which pulls in with it a love of video games and subtle sense of humour. These elements make Ultra a widely varied and intense affair. Vatican have charged out of the gates hard, vanquishing all those that stand in Ultra’s way. If the Matrix films had a hardcore soundtrack, the odds are that it would sound like this.
Ultra is an album that will no doubt keep listeners on the edge of their seat. Built around the polyrhythmic mastery of Meshuggah, the savage sonic abrasiveness of The Dillinger Escape Plan and the brutal breakdown riffs of metallic hardcore, yet the album harnesses a complex set of emotions through melancholic electronics and the unique tones of Mike Sugars clean singing. There is a surprise round every corner, just when you think you’ve settled into the album’s groover Vatican take great delight in swinging in a curveball from left field. The album is a finely balanced mixture of dissonance and melody, whilst that may be a contradiction in terms, Vatican have managed to make discordant hardcore riffs to work in tandem with eerie, glitchy synths in a way that fosters interdependence across the album. In explanation, each element would sound empty and have less of an impact without the other. Like the metallic cyborg woman adorning the Ultra’s cover, Vatican have fused these elements inextricably to create an intimidatingly intricate album. Ultra in many ways is The Algorithm meets Knocked Loose.
‘[ULTRAGOLD]’ leads the way in being all out hardcore thrasher, hailing down the two-stepped spin kicks with ruthless regularity. Demonstrating the crazy tempo shifts and glitches that transcend the album, it is a disorientating listening experience as it barrages your from all sides. With this in mind, Vatican have been refreshingly sparing in their use of glitches and electronic elements. Excellently avoiding the worn out trend of over the top production which distracts the listener from the actual song as it chaotically swirls round for no real reason. Vatican have really thought about the structure of their songs and built in many complex and intricate layers that aren’t usually found in a metallic hardcore album, in turn making it stand out amongst the band’s contemporaries.
Whilst the album is ultimately aggressive in nature, with an exemplary display of progressive metal virtuosity, there are some beautifully crafted evocative and emotive moments throughout the album. The song that best demonstrates this is ‘By Your Love’, where Mike Sugars sings melancholic melodies through sombre lyrics, and it showcases the band’s more emotional side as it weaves together legato guitar leads with glitch ridden chugs behind it. It all comes together in a emotionally powerful way, as you can feel the raw emotion that has been channeled into the song. ‘Where Heavens Collide’ is another outstanding demonstration of the band’s versatility vocally and musically, and is a lot more progressive and atmospheric. The song builds into a disgustingly heavy and threatening breakdown before launching into the anthemic chorus.
Even though the band burst onto the scene relatively recently, the Vatican have come on leaps and bounds since their debut album. 2022 will definitely be their year, as Ultra is a brilliantly complex and compelling album that will definitely turn a few heads. As well as striking the seemingly perfect balance between metallic hardcore and progressive metal, Vatican will doubt change perceptions on how genre crossovers can be done subtly but with devastating effect.