Blackened deathcore quintet Ov Sulfur have released their sophomore album, Endless, via Century Media Records. Propelled by the vocalizations of frontman Ricky Hoover, Ov Sulfur pushes the boundaries of their deathcore origins on this record, simultaneously embracing black metal while exploring a surprising degree of melody that never dilutes their genre-decimating approach. For a preview of Endless, a new vocal playthrough video for the album track “Forlorn” can be seen here:
Chase Wilson (Guitarist/Vocalist) on “Forlorn”:
“My goal for ‘Forlorn’ was a melodeath version of a waltz. This song has an elegant kind of swing to it while also being crushingly heavy. It’s about someone suffering from loneliness and worrying they’ll never find someone to share their life with. Delivering that message in this vocal one-take performance, even with the key change toward the end, was a special challenge to show off how Ricky and I have grown as singers.”
Chase Wilson (Guitarist/Vocalist) on Endless as a whole:
“The dreaded ‘sophomore slump’ is here, but we think we rose above that. Our debut LP ‘The Burden Ov Faith’ was full of a lot of new elements and great ideas, but we really refined those and expanded further here. A huge benefit was having more time to really shape it and doing so in a dedicated studio session with Josh Schroeder, whereas LP1 was piecemealed together from many sessions across time and space. (We recorded vocals in LA, drums with Josh, guitars in Las Vegas, etc.)
“‘Endless’ is a journey through eternal struggles and trying to find what we need to come to terms with them. We have all been through a lot of these different emotions and wrestled with the possibility there could never be an end.”
Ricky Hoover (Vocals) on the album as a whole:
“This album pushed me to the edge! When it comes to vocal abilities, both in terms of screaming AND singing, accompanied by an increased presence by my co-captain Chase. Wait until you hear my falsetto in ‘Endless//Loveless.’ There’s actually a cell phone video from the studio where you can see and hear how mindblown we all were because I didn’t tell anyone I was going to try that and that first take made the album!
“It also pushed me lyrically. This album examines how real-life emotions and struggles would feel if they went on eternally: became ‘Endless,’ if you will. This forced me to really grapple with the emotions taken to their furthest point, which was taxing to say the least. Hopefully it resonates with listeners, who can find the joy in the here and now, rather than looking toward the ‘Endless.'”
Purchase and stream Endless in its entirety via: https://ovsulfurband.lnk.to/
On Endless, Ov Sulfur delve deeper into the darkened sonic landscapes that defined the Las Vegas quintet’s 2023 landmark debut, The Burden Ov Faith. Catapulted by the return of ex-Suffokate vocalist Ricky Hoover, Ov Sulfur take a more metaphorical approach to the disdain for religion that drove their previous material. What would actually happen if eternal life existed? Eternal doubt, longing, grief, fear and more would drive humans mad. The message comes through loud and clear atop Leviathvn’s pummeling drums, with guitarist/vocalist Chase Wilson’s gravelly singing complementing Hoover; the vocal attack is pushed further live by latest additions bassist Josh Bearden and guitarist Christian Becker, bringing their performance to the next level.
The vocal dynamics and melodic choruses are extended to the max on Endless; songs like the hard rocking “Wither” and ballad “Endless//Loveless” are a logical extension to the band’s realization that Ricky could belt with the best of ’em.
“I was originally only going to sing a soft intro to ‘Earthen’ on our last album,” reveals Hoover. “Once Chase and our vocal producer [for that album] Morgoth heard it, we reworked a bunch of stuff for me to sing more. That’s pushed further here. Chase even taught me to do falsetto in-studio (he actually took a video on his phone where I looked genuinely shocked I hit the notes because it was so new to me).”
Wilson expands on the vocal growth: “There is a lot of vocal interplay between the two of us, hinted at on ‘The Burden Ov Faith’s ‘The Inglorious Archetype,’ inspired by Alice In Chains’ Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell. You can hear that on ‘Evermore,’ and we practically split ‘Wither’ down the middle; the song is about us both losing grandparents, so it’s super personal.”
That dynamism is helped along by vocal features from Johnny Ciardullo (Carcosa), Josh Davies (Ingested) and Alan Grnja (Distant), joining Ov Sulfur’s illustrious guest list that includes Howard Jones (ex-Killswitch Engage, Light the Torch), Alex Terrible (Slaughter to Prevail) and many more.
