Lotus Tree starts things off, ambient to start with while being anchored down by the pounding drums. Building and building throughout it’s course, a variety of textures join in before a brief break. The other side of the break sees a swirling storm of sawing guitars and guttural vocals. The track has a huge sense of scale, blowing the lid off any box you try to keep it in.
The next track, Ultra, is even more explosive. A brief calm starts the track before the thunderous guitars enter. The vocals take the lead however, getting heated and savage. It’s a killer chorus, especially in how a great little guitar lick picks up the focus between lines of the vocal. The bridge sees verbed out vocals screaming into the abyss right before the guitars step back up into top gear. The track ends with more of that glorious chorus, this time with extra guitar lines snaking around all the way to the big finish.
Then comes Alpha, a moodier track with hanging delays and bass sitting between the drums and vocals that lead the verses. The vocals give a great sense of story telling on this track in particular even as they switch from soft to harsh and everywhere in between. It’s a lush track with all the atmosphere you’ve come to expect from the band at this point in the record. The way it navigates from section to section makes this one of my favourites on the EP.
The release ends with the one two punch of Mesa and the title track, All At Your Mercy. The six minute epic that is Mesa, flits between tense, echoing verses and lifting choruses. The track certainly earns its long run time, keeping you drawn in all the way to it’s epic conclusion.
The title track opens calmly enough before diving into one of the most brutal parts of the whole release. That first verse is absolutely crushing. The quieter section that follows showcases the bands ability to switch from brutal to articulate, pulling you further into the song and all it’s mysteries. Yearning vocals sound out across the soundscape and before long things get heavy again. It all ends with some tidal guitars and screamed vocals.
This release sees the band combining the heaviness of metal with the atmosphere of various post genres to great success. It’s an EP to lose yourself in and I implore you to listen to it. It has all the ear candy you could want with it’s layers of sound. For those who find traditional metal to lack dynamics this is a great way to get a dose of heaviness with greater dynamics.