Guilt Trip Severance album review

Score 9/10

Review By Bracken Hake

Hardcore music frequently acts as the raw, unfiltered voice of dissent and catharsis in a world where chaos reigns and emotions are high. The most recent release from Guilt Trip, “Severance,” proves the genre’s enduring strength. This album is a raging emotional catharsis and a sonic proclamation of resiliency.

“Fallen At My Feet,” the album’s opening track, perfectly captures Guilt Trip’s trademark ferocity. The unyielding tone of “Severance” is set off by thunderous riffs, machine-gun drumming, and a vocal delivery that seems to come from the depths of hell. “Eyes Wide Shut” and “Surrounded By Pain” continue the relentless assault, showcasing the band’s overwhelming strength and unrelenting aggression. These songs bludgeon the listener with their unyielding heaviness like sonic sledgehammers. The song “Sweet Dreams” introduces one of my all-time favourite metalcore vocalists, Florent Salfati of Landmvrks, and gives the album a captivating new dimension.

The contrast between Guilt Trip’s brutality and Salfati’s brief clean vocals are both unsettling and atmospheric. The band’s technical mastery and unyielding energy are displayed in the Supersonic whirlwinds “Reaching Paradise” and “Tearing Your Life Away,” which continue the album’s onslaught. Guilt Trip keeps the listener interested and on the edge by skilfully fusing melodic passages with scorching ferocity. With “Broken Wings” and “The Gates,” “Severance” reaches its most intense emotional point. A haunting sense of catharsis is conveyed by the band’s guttural screams and spine-tingling clean vocals as they explore themes of anguish, sorrow, and in particular broken dreams. This song’s writing is incredibly moving, engrossing the listener even more in Guilt Trip’s mental agony.

“Sanctified” and “Hell Will Replace the Rain” provide the album’s concluding strikes as they unleash a bombardment of sound artillery. Guilt Trip doesn’t let up, keeping the album’s intensity high all the way towards the end. The apocalyptic high point of the album is “Severance,” the album’s lead song. The record’s brutal vocal delivery and bone-crushing breakdowns drive it to a cataclysmic finish, leaving the listener battered and gasping for air. After the auditory onslaught., “Dusk” serves as a sombre, reflective outro, offering a time of rest and reflection.

Guilt Trip has created a relentless, cathartic masterpiece. It’s an album that demands your attention, gripping you with its emotional depth and punishing intensity. Signed to MLVLTD, the label founded by Malevolence, Guilt Trip’s future in the Hardcore scene looks promising, and “Severance” is the album that solidifies their place among the genre’s elite. If you’re a fan of unrelenting heaviness, emotional depth, and cathartic release, “Severance” is a must-listen, reaffirming Guilt Trip’s status as a metallic hardcore force to be reckoned with.

1. Fallen at My Feet [01:16]
2. Surrounded by Pain [03:30]
3. Eyes Wide Shut [02:57]
4. Sweet Dreams (feat. Florent Salfati of LANDMVRKS) [02:53]
5. Reaching Paradise [01:49]
6. Tearing Your Life Away [03:16]
7. Broken Wings [03:19]
8. The Gates [02:38] (feat. Alex Taylor of Malevolence & James Tippett of Rough Justice)
9. Sanctified [02:42] (feat. Mike Duce)
10. Hell Will Replace the Rain [02:23]
11. Severance [02:52]
12. Dusk [03:13]