Year of release: 2017
Label: Nuclear Blast Records
Rating: 7,5 / 10
I didn’t really want to write this review now, because there is a high risk of being mistaken and writing a lot of nonsense, but what kind of webzine it would be without reviews of the important new albums? So, the new album of technical death metal gods SUFFOCATION - is already available in the form of a promotional version, which, of course, scattered over the Internet 2 months before the release. I will start with the most important thing in order to invest my contribution in preventing the story that happened a few years ago with the great NILE album “At the Gate of Sethu”: don't judge the sound by listening to mp3. This in itself is absurd, but if we are talking about a promo that leaked into Internet, it is doubly absurd. Some stupid fuckers having consumed the garbage transcode of NILE's 2012' album, created it the reputation of an unlistenable fail recorded in mono. Do not be like these subhumans; be sure to listen to the album at least while someone will rip it from the CD when it comes out. Since the sound of the promotional version of "... of the Dark Light" feels "naked" and the dryness inherent in these compressed recordings. At the same time, there is a hidden power in it. I give my head to the clipping, that in June, when a physical release will fall on the counters, it will show itself in full.
Now about the music. As you should know, the old guitarist Guy Marchais left SUFFOCATION, and they also changed the drummer again. heir places were taken by some Eric Morotti and Charlie Eriggo who look like kiddies when they are staying aside Mullen, Boyer and Hobbs. Eriggo was listed in PYREXIA for some time, but Morotti plays in some shit. This caused concern for the quality of the new material, but, fortunately, nothing has changed. Only the cover of the album, made in the homosexual fashionable style, spoils the impression. However, the musical content can hardly be combined with it. It's definitely not FALLUJAH or some fucking INANIMATE EXISTENCE. In fact, “... of the Dark Light” is very heavy and gloomy, it is one of the heaviest albums of SUFFOCATION. Pinnacle of Bedlam” sounds cheerful if you compare those two. I see a new opus as a mixture of the three works of the Americans - “Blood Oath” (many heavy sluggish riffs, broken structures), “Souls to Deny” (rare inclusions of “airy” hypertechnical parts and crumbly blastbits) and “Effigy of the Forgotten” (good half of the beats and combinations of guitar-vocals remind of this classic album, plus an extremely gloomy mood). A good batch, isn't it? Why then only 7.5 out of 10? Matter of taste - I love fast SUFFOCATION, and I consider “Blood Oath” the worst album in their discography. “… Of the Dark Light” is not as slow as "Blood Oath" but it's also not a sprinter at all. Compare at least the last track (traditional rewriting of the composition from “Breeding the Spawn”) with the rest. However, if you like balanced and dynamic soundingwhen there are both tans and jumpers, feel free to raise the final score.
One of the undoubted advantages of the album is vocals, sounding much more convincing than on its predecessor. In combination with the unfriendly melodies of the riffs, it sometimes returns to the early 90s, all this sounds so gloomy. Mullen seems to be a grandfather, but he still kicks it! I want to believe that this time the promotional campaign will go without video clips about a crowd of drunk degenerates, since “... of the Dark Light” seems like a much more serious album than “Pinnacle of Bedlam”. This shitty cover is more than enough. Now I stop talking and start waiting for my CD. So far, the album seems not the best one in SUFFOCATION discography, but a) what you call a failure for SUFFOCATION is a peak for others; b) with a full-fledged sound impression can significantly change for the better.
English (UK) 
Крыўская