It is almost the end of 2025, which means it is time to review another symphonic/blackened deathcore record. This time, it’s the latest effort from the Las Vegas outfit, Ov Sulfur, titled Endless.

Does it have what it takes to stand out from the myriad other symphonic/blackened deathcore released this year?

Ov Sulfur was born from the ashes of now “old school/myspace” deathcore band Suffokate, taking a different approach than the original, Suicide Silence-era deathcore. Endless is their sophomore release, following 2023’s The Burden Ov Faith. I gave that record a fair shake. While there were a few enjoyable moments, the record had the rough edges of a debut record of a band still trying to carve out an identity in the crowd. I dove into this second record, hoping for a more defined identity.

The opening track and first bookend of the “Endless” duology, “Endless//Godless” kicks off the record with a typical eerie electronic arrangement, before hitting us with a heavy breakdown with an almost “thall”-like flavor, but with your typical deathcore “Let’s try to emit disgusting sounds” vocal lines. And it’s 2025-era deathcore, for sure.

At the time of writing this review, four singles have been released for the masses, and it’s a good idea to talk about them first, before getting into the rest of Endless. The single “Seed” is enjoyable enough and has a couple of catchy old-school sounding riffs, harkening to a simpler time of melodeath-inspired deathcore. There are plenty of strings and brass samples, typical of this subgenre, to push this track firmly into symphonic-deathcore territory. The “blackened” half of the “symphonic/blackened” deathcore emerges in the next single, “Forlorn”, this time resembling modern-Carnifex, which is still a win in my book.

The flagship track of Endless is clearly meant to be “Vast Eternal”, clocking at six minutes, the longest of the record, with the most predictable “black metal” minor chord progression (for anyone familiar with the genre, you know exactly the three minor chords I refer to here). The song plods along at a more mid-paced tempo, seeming more like a giant beast, aside from the classic “black metal blast beats with synths” arrangements. Most confusing is the “ballad”, “Wither”. With an emotional real-world sample, the track itself is more metalcore than deathcore, and feels incredibly misplaced on Endless, and sounds like a Wage War, I Prevail (and the like) ballad. Hey look, a track named “Evermore” on a symphonic deathcore record, since Lorna Shore already took “Forevermore”. Supposedly a melancholic, emotionally heavy track, that part largely falls flat. Thankfully, there are quarter-time breakdowns to save the day.

Fortunately, all is not bah and humbug on Endless. In fact, I rather enjoyed the back end of the record substantially more. The trio of tracks with guest features is the strongest the record has to offer. The blackened “Dread” (featuring Josh Davies newly of Ingested) is quite the beater, while “Bleak” (featuring Johnny Cairdullo of Angelmaker and Carcosa) have the appropriate amount of malice-laden keys and strikes the right balance of blackened deathcore goodness, and is among the best on Endless. Finally, “A World Away” (featuring Alan Grnja of Distant) is a straightlaced banger. The synths on this track occupy the perfect amount of space and know when to give space to the guitars to display their chuggy goodness. The closing bookend to the “Endless” duology, “Endless//Loveless” is a faux-acoustic ballad. Whitechapel did it better on The Valley and Kin. This track feels very like an homage (to be charitable) to that sound.

Ov Sulfur is composed of musicians who are clearly giving it their all. Guitarists Chase Wilson and Christian Becker have studied the symphonic/blackened deathcore playbook thoroughly. Drummer Leviathvn (sigh, fine, if black metal can do it, go ahead!) is competent behind the kit, and shines through the blast-beat driven parts, yet pales before the majesty of Austin Archey (Lorna Shore) and others who blaze through the genre. Of course, Ov Sulfur IS vocalist Ricky Hoover. His vocals explore the trademark deathcore range, from growls to barks, with the occasional animal-noise showcase (for TikTok). But it is the band’s decision to heavily feature clean vocals that will be the most divisive aspect of this band’s sound. The prevalence of clean vocals on every track on Endless is a clear message that Ov Sulfur has no intention of backing down and considers clean vocals a seminal part of their songwriting. To Hoover’s credit, his croons and yarls and emotional cleans are more fleshed out on Endless than on The Burden Ov Faith. There are times, especially on “Wither”, “Evermore” and “Loveless” that he comes to Phil Bozeman (Whitechapel) levels of emotional heft with is cleans. To those who detest clean vocals in their deathcore, this album will not change your mind. To those who don’t mind when bands like Signs of the Swarm, Fit For An Autopsy, and Whitechapel include cleans sparingly, Ov Sulfur may appeal to you.

Here is my fundamental issue that plagues the current iteration of Ov Sulfur. The black metal riffs with synth, broken up with abrupt downtempo, downtuned breakdowns with animal-noise vocals are beyond tired, and an exhausted trope now. Ov Sulfur brings very little new to the table, if anything. Dimmu Borgir heralded the symphonics (taking from Emperor), bringing it to the black metal masses, and were crucified for it, in their own audiences. Behemoth modernized that approach, bringing theatrical appeal to their latest releases, finding only middling success. In deathcore circles, Carnifex played around with blackened influences but largely stayed away from grandiose symphonics. The standard-bearers of this sound, undoubtedly, is Lorna Shore (phew, made in 500 words without mentioning them!). Their meteoric success with Immortal made the genre tropes THE thing to emulate. However, with successive releases, even with the popular success of Pain Remains, and to a lesser extent, this year’s I Feel the Everblack Festering Within Me, even the masters of the craft are only receiving diminishing returns. Other bands like Shadow of Intent have swerved towards a more melodic death direction, while Worm Shepherd leaned further into the black metal side of things. Newer bands like Disembodied Tyrant and Synestia continue to push the very limits of technicality and bombast in their over-the-top proclamations. Most recently, Netherwalker have already begun to satirize the genre, while writing technically superlative yet thematically comic symphonic deathcore.

I am very mixed on Endless. By itself, the record stands reasonably strong, with a great back half. However, the genre trappings are inescapable, and Endless does very little to escape these traps. We’ve heard all these songs before; we’ve heard better versions of them, from other bands. All this is to say, in this sea where even the greats are struggling to find runaway recognition, Endless is lagging behind, and  Ov Sulfur may end up drowning.