A small deathcore EP is the latest release by the Montreal-based quartet Deadwood, released via Innerstrength Records on January 9th. Deadwood have made quite a name for themselves across Canada by selling out a show with a thousand attendees, and will embark on a Japanese tour alongside the Swedish band Humanity's Last Breath later in April. "Rituals of a Dying Light" embarks on a short-but-brutal deathcore journey through the darkest places in Deadwood's collective minds. I've got five songs, two singles, and a bunch of YouTube videos to discover these dying light-related rituals.

The first single "Heretic" received a dark and drab music video all the way back in April of 2025. The track itself is blisteringly fast, with loud drums, extremely distorted guitars, and typical (but solid) vocals. The whole song is chaotic as hell, as waves of noise wash over me with such intensity that sometimes I don't know what to focus on. A breakdown occurs (by the deathcore standard) a little bit after the halfway point, where vocalist Martin D. really starts to sound really clean in his harsh vocals. The song slows down, picks up, and is dynamic in sound as deathcore tends to be. A solid song to start off the project. I don't mind at all when deathcore slows down - I usually prefer it, actually.

The second single also got some videos associated with it, as "Tales Of Massacre" can be viewed with both a drum playthrough courtesy of Charles-Etienne L, a double guitar playthrough courtesy of Fred E. and Stephane F, and a visualizer. This single opens the full EP. Technical riffs and heavy blasts of drums and guitar relentlessly pound away. The track is a bit shorter, not even reaching three minutes, but when there's THIS much going on, any more would just water down the sound. "Tales Of Massacre" gets the job done, and the best single out of the two - it really put me in the mood for more!

The bulk of the EP is next, with the second song being "Thirst For Blood." Another <3:00 track, but as relentless as ever. Like what I've heard before, every instrument is giving 110% without break. There are less calm segments here, but I'll always make time for the chaos that is Deadwood. "Whispers Of Death" is next, and coming in at 4:25, it's the longest track on the release. My hopes were that the crew would take advantage of length to build upon atmosphere and some slower parts I've raved about before, and my hopes came true! The plodding tempo of "Whispers Of Death," paired with some ghastly spoken word parts, solidified the track as a definite highlight of the EP. If those other songs were as long as this, it'd just be too much. Deadwood seems to know how to play around with musical timing with such choices. Ten seconds of silence at the end though? A bit much. The final song, "Echoes Of The Fallen," comes in heavier than ever. The riffs are chunkier, the leads are doomier, and the solos are soaring and varied. Yeah, I started air drumming, too. Some time signature wizardry kicks in, then calms down, then ceases peacefully. For a mainly instrumental track besides some more whispery spoken word, it impresses.

Deadwood knows what they're doing. From song timing, to atmosphere building, to just slamming some deathcore down your ear canals. Deathcore is a divisive genre, and has been for a while, especially in the modern era where "overproduction" and constant breakdowns turn off the average listener. Well, none of that was apparent in "Rituals of a Dying Light." You can tell it's a unique -core record when instrumental and slower songs are the highlights. A great effort overall.