And Hell Followed With confirms its comeback with its new album.
Created in 2006 in the United States, the band releases two albums, then stops its activities in 2010. A return happens between 2011 and 2012, then the band goes to sleep again. A single is released in 2015, then it is in 2018 that the Americans announce to be active again. An EP is released in 2019, then a second one in early 2022, just before the release of Quietus, composed by Pat Hahn (guitar), Nick Scott (bass, Aegaeon), Byron London (drums, Crown Magnetar), Daniel Gomez (guitar), Nick Burnett (guitar, Crown Magnetar) and Dan Tucker (vocals, Crown Magnetar).
The album starts with The Great Mist, a quite majestic track that quickly reveals a devastating violence and some technical spikes. The aggressive deathcore base reveals some more dissonant parts, then the band invites Tre Turner (Spirit Breaker) for Artificial Womb, a massive and crushing composition, which offers a very interesting vocal diversity. The track is very short, but it lets the raw violence surface before Emotionless Mass, a more ambient track on which we have Kyle Medina (Bodysnatcher), who brings very raw elements to the composition, which also knows how to be very heavy on the jerky breaks. The band continues with Infinite Sequential Visions of a Sphere of Hate featuring Kyle Anderson (Brand of Sacrifice, Earthshatter) which starts with an airy quietness, but the calm will be broken by overpowering riffs coupled with dissonant leads. The screams melt together, and then they unleash us on the cold Sacrificial Human Destiny, which offers catchy Djent influences and technical hints. There are also softer melodies, just like on the introduction of Quietus, the eponymous track, which gets heavier and heavier before Dethroned jumps down our throats with a throbbing sound. The hazy tones give way to the raw violence we’ve come to expect, and then Jewels of Urn allows us another short, dark pause before letting the heaviness and rage run wild. The band welcomes Julian Kersey (Wormhole, The Faceless, ex-Aegaeon, ex-Rose Funeral) on this very contrasted track that puts the leads in the spotlight, then In Return, I Shed My Flesh will create a haunting veil of oppression. The track also keeps very aggressive passages, but we feel that this ambient slowness is heavy, just like on The Well, the last track, on which the band welcomes Duncan Bentley (Vulvodynia, Xavleg, ex-Wormhole). The rhythmic is heavy, but the leads are almost melancholic, and they will create a contrast with this deafening break, which will let the track end with an interesting moshpart.
As the first extracts had foreshadowed, And Hell Followed With is stronger than ever. With Quietus, the band unveils a contrasted universe between raw rage, technical influences and haunting melodies, while allowing some guests a place in this chaos.
90/100