Album Review: (Un)Worthy – This Present Darkness (Rottweiler Records)

Southern Californian deathcore two-piece (Un)Worthy are back with a brand-new album called ‘This Present Darkness’. Due out on the 17th of May, 2024 via Rottweiler Records.

The vision is as clear as day from the moment Forsaken by God announces the arrival of (Un)Worthy’s new album in grim fashion. They’re here to deliver an album of pummelling intensity. They’re here to make you feel like you’ve been viciously attacked by a pack of wild animals. Across the seven tracks of this album, that vision is well and truly realised.

It’s a savage opener, made all harsher thanks to guest vocals from Voluntary Mortification’s Connor Luttig. (Un)Worthy showcasing deathcore in its most primal form. So how do you surpass that high bar? By delivering something that is doubly heavy, has a blackened sludgy edge, and injections of pacy ferocity. It’s the title track and it’s up there as one of the heaviest things you’ll hear all year.

Don’t worry about the shakes you currently have, that’s just the fear you’re feeling for what comes next. (Un)Worthy bringing forth some serrated riffs and bone-crunching drums with Satan Whispers. Then offering no respite with the short horror-laden discomfort of Psalm of Lament. Before a cacophony of speeding ruthlessness and brutalising heaviness comes in the form of This Too Shall Pass. A track that features the talents of guitarist Joe Holt of Holy Name.

Can this album possibly get anymore manic? Good sense would say no, but (Un)Worthy aren’t a sensible band, and with This Spirit Speaks they turn the crank up another notch for one of their most scathing tracks yet. Guess what? It f**king hits hard. No surprises there, but the mind just never seems to be prepared for each new bout of punishment.

Which is why the finale of The Journey Home also hits with the force of a tidal wave. (Un)Worthy treating the listener with all the love and care one might expect from a rabid hound. The vision is realised, and once you’ve stopped rocking yourself back and forth from the trauma, you’ll be coming back to this time and time again.

(Un)Worthy – This Present Darkness Track Listing:

1. Forsaken By God (Ft. Conner Luttig)
2. This Present Darkness
3. Satan Whispers
4. Psalm of Lament
5. This Too Shall Pass (Ft. Joe Holt)
6. The Spirit Speaks
7. The Journey Home

Links

Bandcamp | Website | Facebook | Instagram | Rottweiler Records