Best Ulcerate Albums

Stare Into Death and Be Still is the band's latest effort, released in 2020, and it received acclaim from fans and critics. The band steps into adventurous territory with a greater inclination towards creating a focused melody than ever before while still being dark and angular in proper proportions. The pristine production provides a lot of breathing space for the instruments to emit their nuances, making it much more accessible.

This album would serve as the perfect starter for those who want to get into the genre and gradually work their way up into the realms of Technical/Dissonant Death Metal.

Highlights: Stare Into Death and Be Still, There Is No Horizon, and Inversion

Everything Is Fire is the band's sophomore record, drawing heavy influences from later-era Gorguts and Immolation. The band incorporates slow post-metal-sounding elements into their aggressive death metal sound.

This album is where they started to stray away from a straightforward death metal approach and began focusing on attention to detail, pushing the boundaries by infusing dissonant riffs to create a crushing, monolithic sound. A large portion of the album tends to be mid-paced with bursts of speed. The album also features some of the most creative, varied, and heaviest percussion in metal.

Highlights: Withered and Obsolete, We Are Nil, and Everything Is Fire

The Destroyers of All saw the band drifting more towards sludgy death metal by amplifying their atmospheric tendencies, such as chaotic bleakness, even more so than in their later works. The aggressive bits on Everything Is Fire are replaced with the doomy and atmospheric-oriented passages that dominate the soundscape, perfectly complemented by seamless composition and intense drumming.

The record draws inspiration from the structured chaos of black metal acts like Blut Aus Nord and Deathspell Omega. All in all, this record is a unique outcome of a series of other people's ideas well-executed.

Highlights: Burning Skies, Cold Becoming, and Omens.

Vermis, the fourth full-length studio album, is like a cross between their previous two albums, striking a balance between the better aspects of both. The record is probably the least accessible in their catalogue. The production is murkier than ever in an attempt to add to the darker and denser elements, which help forge a gigantic wall of sound.

The barrage of hard-hitting and gloom-ridden riffs leaves little to no room for melody, which is likely the reason this album is the toughest to get into unless you sit with it without expecting to be rewarded instantly.

Highlights: The Imperious Weak and Vermis

In contrast to Vermis, the production and mastering of Shrines of Paralysis sound less organic for the brand of music the band plays. The music is louder, with the guitars pushed back slightly to let the drums dominate the mixing. The album's striking resemblance to Gorguts' Pleiades' Dust EP, released in the same year, is hard to disregard.

In my opinion, this record aims to highlight the individuality of riffs and sections rather than coherent composition. The album, on the whole, sounds like an extension of Everything Is Fire but with a denser atmosphere and a colorful, melodic tinge to the riffs.

Highlights: Chasm of Fire and There Are No Saviors

Ulcerate debuted with Of Fracture and Failure, offering nine tracks of raw and devastating dark death metal with a subtle flirtation with melody. The contrast between the melodic undertones and the chaotic elements makes this album a unique experience. Unlike subsequent releases, the primary focus of this album is more rooted in speed and aggression than atmosphere.

The band incorporates an array of blast beats, a ton of fills, and engaging cymbal work. Although the memorability factor is somewhat compromised in pursuit of an all-out battering, multiple listens are required to fully appreciate the composition quality.

Highlights: To Fell Golgotha and Defaeco