APOCALYPTIC SOCIETY is a progressive death metal band from Hershey, Pennsylvania known for their intense live shows and anarchic lifestyles. With a sound that blends aggressive riffs and soaring melodies they have built a loyal following in the underground 717 metal scene. Formed in 2015, the band has been making waves with their unique blend of progressive, melodeath, thrash, and old-school death metal. Their music explores themes of personal struggles like addiction, personality disorders, and social disillusion, resonating with fans who crave more than just noise. With their debut album “Instinctual Self-Slaughter” to be released on September 5th, they continue to push the boundaries of metal music. They ask only one question. What are you, a Wimp?

“Dawn of Execution” is the first track. It enters gently, but with some shadows, and the dualing leads are pleasant. What follows is a slow, heavy weight, with harsh vocals. It isn’t venturing very far from the narrow borders of Death Metal, although there are some technical and progressive elements. “Distorted” is a short, two-minute blast of fairly traditional Death Metal. The riffs cross over into Thrash at times, but that’s how the genre was originally bastardized. “Uncured” has nearly the same slowed pace as the first two songs, and is very similar in scope as well. So far, I haven’t heard those soaring melodies, but let’s keep listening. “Quiet Room” is another song with s very similar sound. This makes the album cohesive, but keeps it from really going places.

“Judgement Call” has a faster pace, and the album brings more energy with it. However, the vocals are sung in the same manner as the other songs, and their lack of diversity from track to track is starting to show. The title track is more of the same, although it does have a harrowing edge to it. Once the vocals come in, you could be listening to any other track on the album…they blend together too much. “Coffin Full of Spiders” is shorter, and the pacing varies a bit, but the band isn’t winning any awards for originality. All too familiar pig squeals can also be heard every now and again. “The Silent Extinction” is the closing song. Beginning with some diversity in the clean guitars, it presents a somber landscape. It has might, power, and brutality, but again, isn’t offering much new to the genre.

Overall, this wasn’t a bad album, and the band is talented, but unfortunately, talent will only take you so far in the genre. For me, this was much closer to Death Metal than anything else, and the Progressive elements were barely there. Too many of the songs sounded the same, and the band needs to take more chances in my opinion.