Album Review: The Browning - End of Existence

Album Review: The Browning - End of Existence

I love death metal, I love industrial, I love synth. ‘End of Existence’ is all of these rolled in to one to create a futuristic, dystopian sound steeped in fantasy and I am absolutely living for it.

To date, this is The Browning’s heaviest piece of work with mastermind Jonny McBee stating:

“To me, the music sounded doomy, dystopian and apocalyptic. The Browning has always had that tone, but it’s even more prevalent now. Early on, I knew I was going to write the heaviest Browning body of work there was. I needed a theme to fit the heaviness and darkness of the music though. Since I was really happy in my personal life, it had to have a fictional plot. For me, this was about creating a universe.”

And what a stunning universe it is. The title track opens with a sinister message of pure chaos and destruction; “I have travelled an infinite distance to put an end to your worthless existence” followed by a brutally deafening death metal roar to shake you to the absolute core. The sound is explosive with heavy drumbeats and chugging riffs offset by electronica. A perfect fusion between the genres delivering tasty breakdowns and industrial melodies.

The momentum continues to gather with the ridiculously catchy ‘Destroyer’ followed by a more melodic, almost ethereal metalcore and synth-rich ‘Anticendency.’ ‘Gott Ist Tott‘ is a threateningly catchy crowd pleaser peppered with rhythmically heavy blast beats and crushing industrial tones. ‘Torment’ has some of the heaviest, guttural vocals on the record perfectly conveying the tone of the track.

Each track on this record brings forth cinematic flair and a devastating assault to the senses. From synth-heavy atmospheric vibes to crunching drums and grinding guitars to both clean and brutally guttural vocals. It’s meaty, it’s catchy, it’s everything you could imagine and more. ‘Chaos Reigns’ in particular, is my personal favourite on the record. It brings absolute chaos and unbridled rhythmic aggression of epic proportions on the backdrop of well blended heavy synth.

If this record doesn’t get you headbanging and put you in the frame of mind to battle the dragon in a dystopian universe with your firey sword then I don’t know what will. Speaking of which, can we just take a moment to admire the absolutely stunning album artwork? I completely vibe with this record and is definitely one of my favourites of 2021. I give this a solid 9/10.

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