She Must Burn – ‘Umbra Mortis’ [Album Review]

When a band has toured with the likes of Cradle of Filth and Lorna Shore, as well as having played their own sold-out headline shows in London, you know two things. Firstly, She Must Burn is going to give your ears a good pummelling with their new album, Umbra Mortis, and, secondly, expectations are going to be high that their own brand of symphonic deathcore is going to be top-quality produce.

Yes, their second full-length album ticks all the symphonic blackened deathcore boxes from the operatic female backing vocals to the harsh, demonic lead vocals to the walls of blast beats, but it’s very clear that She Must Burn has taken on board every single lesson they’ve learned from touring with some of the masters of the genre. Intro track “Nine,” for example, could sit comfortably on any Cradle of Filth album, while Kyle Lamb’s hellish vocals will certainly find favour with fans of bands like Carnifex as he howls and growls his way through demonic offerings like “The Rats in the Walls” and the brutal “Misery Eternal.”

An album with blackness seeping out of every groove, there is plenty of easily digestible deathcore morsels like “Of Blood and Bone,” where the Cradle of Filth-esque symphonics jostle for space alongside some traditional metal guitar fretwork and plenty of mosh-friendly passages more in line with Carnifex than they are with say Dimmu Borgir. That being said, when She Must Burn stray into that more symphonic black metal-inspired path, as they do on tracks like “Souls Asunder,” the end result is something quite spectacularly evil.

All-in-all, Umbra Mortis might not offer anything particularly new, but having made the most of the incredible opportunities they have put in front of them, She Must Burn has created an album that not only justifies those opportunities but one that certainly puts them in a strong position to make their mark on a swamped genre. A devilishly savage album, Umbra Mortis has plenty to offer and more than enough to keep the likes of Cradle of Filth looking nervously over their sinister shoulders.

Umbra Mortis Track Listing:

1. Nine
2. The Rats in the Walls
3. Of Blood and Bone
4. Umbra Mortis
5. Eulogy
6. Misery Eternal
7. A Truer Hell
8. Incantation
9. Souls Asunder
10. The Serpent

Run Time: 37:58
Release Date: October 14, 2022
Record Label: Grey Rock Music