One thing that has become clear throughout the 2020’s is that as long as a good portion of a band’s lineup is still alive, a reunion is never truly off the table. So many artists in a wide range of genres have returned in this decade after twenty or more years of inactivity, and this has been especially true in the hardcore and metalcore adjacent spaces. One of the latest groups to return after a long hiatus is Connecticut metalcore band 100 Demons, who released two albums between 2000 and 2004 that struck that fine balance between chug heavy grooves and faster thrash infused passages. Twenty-two years after their self-titled, the band is back with Embrace The Black Light and it sounds like they have picked up right where they left off.
Opening track “The Nightmare” establishes that 100 Demon haven’t lost any of the density and power in the decades since their self-titled album, as the drums thump you right in the chest with faster blasting and the rest of the band goes for a faster thrash tempo before the breakdowns come in to pummel you into submission. What these guys have always done well is to shake up the way the grooves and breakdowns are incorporated into their material so that it doesn’t just fall into a repetitive structure where every song has almost the same pattern, and Embrace The Black Light continues this approach. Sometimes the group goes for shorter and punchier moments where things are a bit more thrash and hardcore oriented, as “Nail it Shut” sticks with speed for almost its entire run while “Häxan Hammer” shifts from a slow burning chugging build-up to leads that have a hint of melodic death metal to them. It really feels like 100 Demons has captured the best aspects of their previous two releases and fused them together here, as there are just as many room-filling breakdowns that stand out to me compared to the fast paced and blistering instrumentals. It also helps that the production is impeccable, giving some heft to the low end while letting the guitars really steal the spotlight when they need to. Embrace The Black Light is almost ten minutes longer than the band’s other full lengths, and this does lead to a few moments that do blur together over repeat listens, but overall there are a lot of specific passages that have stuck with me and made me want to crank the volume up.
100 Demons’ second vocalist Pete Morcey returns to the mic for Embrace The Black Light, so if you’re spent any time with their self-titled effort the performance here will be familiar. It doesn’t sound like two decades have passed, as Morcey’s familiar low pitched yell/growl has just as much density and towers over the recording in ways that add significant to the intensity of the music. The previous effort did have some slight dips into singing/cleaner pitches, and while you do get a bit of that on “Häxan Hammer” it isn’t that much of a focus this time around. There is one other exception to this though courtesy of “Cold Wind of the Crossroads” where the group brought in Twitching Tongues on guest vocals, and this is where things take on more of a melodic metalcore feel. I like the way that this track is placed right in the middle, as the singing breaks up the two halves and makes this section a bit more memorable.
Don’t expect album number three from 100 Demons to break any new ground, but the fact that they’ve been able to make it seem like the twenty-two-year gap between albums is non-existent says a lot. The group has leaned into their strengths with riffs and vocals that hit hard and there are plenty of moments that will stick with listeners after the first time through. A few of them do blur together slightly, but this is still a great comeback from one of the early 2000’s heavy hitters in the genre. Embrace The Black Light is available from Closed Casket Activities.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg