BERMUDA (USA)
THE WANDERING (Album)
2012, Mediaskare


1. Intuitions
2. Process of Drowning
3. Invictus, Unconquered
4. In Trenches (ft. Kevin McCaughey of Ion Dissonance)
5. Lost at Sea
6. Sachael
7. Gamorrah Reborn
8. Lagrange Pointe
9. The Wandering
10. Polaris Breach
11. Obstruction


McLovinSkittlez : 18/20

The Wandering is American Deathcore band Bermuda's first full-length album, prior to that they have released an EP titled Isolationist(s). I just recently found out about the American band Bermuda, and I say that because there is an Australian deathcore band under the same name, and I have to say, they remind me a lot of the "Depths" era Oceano, meaning they're fast, heavy, and absolutely amazing for such a young band (group started in '09). Enough of this praising mumbo-jumbo, on to the official review.

Like I said, The Wandering is Bermuda's first full length, and what a debut it was! It was released in May of this year, making it a just a little over a month old, which brings me to this point: Why haven't I heard of these guys? Grant it, I do plan on seeing them with Dr. Acula and The Last Ten Seconds of Life in July. For a debut full length, this blew me away, I was just simply astonished by their musicianship. Previously I mentioned they reminded me of Oceano prior to Contagion, and that's because the music is a little loose, but I think the fact that they're insanely heavy makes up for that fact.

In Bermuda's debut EP, Isolationist(s), they had more of a generic metalcore sound to them, only a little heavier, but within the release of The Wandering, they completely changed that in the fact that they got a new drummer, and the distortion on the guitars was greatly tuned down, and definitely for the better. The guitars sound a lot like Whitechapel, and that's incredible. When I turned on The Wandering, my room started to shake (the credit for that can also be given to the insanely deep bass). I definitely enjoy a band that can make me feel their music, and that's what Bermuda does.

Picture Oceano's Adam Warren and Phil from Whitechapel, and imagine their voices fused together, that's what you get from Bermuda's vocalist! Not only are his growls sick as fuck, but in track 6, "Sachael", he shows off some clean vocals that blew me away. It takes some balls to instigate cleans in a deathcore album, and he didn't disappoint! Overall, I'd probably say he's a rather veteran sounding vocalist, even though he's fairly new to the game.

The guitars in this album are incredible. This is where I picture Bermuda's vocalist on stage with the rest of Whitechapel. Repetitiveness can kind of come into play, if you really, carefully, listen to the album, but it's nothing to crazy (Emmure).

Let's talk drums. The drumming Bermuda produces is pretty good, I say that because deathcore is a tough genre, to say the least, when you're a drummer, but it's also pretty easy to sound like the many other deathcore bands out there, and this really isn't that much of an exception. That being said, Bermuda's drummer does show quite a bit of originality in his skills throughout most of the album, but there are still parts where it sounds like most other drummers in this genre.

Overall this is a purely amazing debut full length. This band has a lot, A LOT, going for them. My greatest advice is to listen to their EP and then this, listen to how different they sound. It sounds like two completely different bands in the fact that in their EP they sound like a really heavy metalcore band, and in this full length they sound incredible. Another thing is that there are a couple instrumentals within The Wandering. You don't normally hear instrumentals in a deathcore album. The only bands I can think of off the top of my head that do this successfully are As Blood Runs Black and Born of Osiris. Bermuda's instrumentals are, to say the least, enjoyable. While listening to it, I thought track 8, "Lagrange Pointe" should've been on Born of Osiris's The Discovery. It had incredible harmony, a beyond decent rhythm. It really got me moving, and then on comes the title track, which is fucking brutally, insanely sick, definitely my favorite off of the entire album. If you're looking for some intense, fast, in-your-face deathcore, I would greatly encourage you to listen to Bermuda's The Wandering. I doubt you will be disappointed. I give Bermuda's The Wandering a 18/20 for that little tiny bit of repetitiveness, but it's still one of the absolute best debut full-lengths I've ever had the privilege of listening to!

2012-07-04 00:36:07