REPENTANCE is a melodic groove metalcore band from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois, and I'm embarrassed to admit I have not heard of them. Formed in 2018 by guitarist Shaun Glass (SOIL, DIRIGE WITHIN), who explains how it all came together "Repentance came together very naturally, which was a very cleansing experience. At this point in my life, I was hoping to start working and creating new music with an almost entirely new group of people - and this crew organically locked into place". The band released their first two demo tracks followed by a critically acclaimed debut album "God For A Day" in 2020. Numerous shows followed with high profile acts such as TRIVIUM, DEVILDRIVER, JINJER, and SACRED REICH, the band soon became known for their distinctive heavy yet dynamic sound, packed with aggression, groove and intensity. "The Process Of Human Demise" was released on August 4, 2023 and features 12 brand new tracks with guest contributions from COREY BEAULIEU (TRIVIUM) and MILO SILVESTRO (FEAR FACTORY), How have I not heard of this band?

REPENTANCE are both loud and hostile and blend a mesh of thrash, speed, death and primal aggressive metal with a "get the fuck out of my way" attitude, and even though that's usually not my cup of tea, when I am assigned to review an album, no matter the genre of metal, I always review with an open mind, close my eyes and let the music do the talking, or in this case, the yelling, screaming and growling, now, where did I put that bottle of Advil? Well, no surprise here, rip-roaring, thunderous riffs with deafening beat and the unmistakable gritty, vocal cord shredding open on "Buried by Fear". The next two tracks feature guest vocalists "Withered and Decayed" featuring Milo Silvestro (FEAR FACTORY) which really did not detour far from the previous song with the same consistency throughout, while "Reborn" featuring  Corey Beaulieu (TRIVIUM) delivers a more diverse core of blistering licks with an infusion of mind-numbing riffs and rhythm, and the balance added by Beaulieu's backing vocals give a nice kick-in-the-ass lift to this bombastic song. The remaining nine tracks are all very formulated and all very angry and belligerent, which I understand is pretty symbolic of death metal. All the songs are a relentless, all-out devouring assault of apocalyptic and distorted guttural howls that pummel all five senses, with the exception of two songs "All the Misery" and "Light it Up" veering ever so slightly off the beaten path and delivering a less aggressively brutal sound.

The mystery is solved on why I never heard of REPENTANCE before, admittedly not a death/thrash metal fan, I desperately looked for something...anything to put a positive spin on this review, but alas, poor Yorick, I couldn't find thee. Maybe a better band name would have been "repetitive" as "The Process Of Human Demise" sounded like one, long continuous song. After the final track ended, I felt like a punch-drunk boxer, staggering and stammering back to my corner.