Review: Come to Pass – Splitting Shadows
Another promising release from Broken Curfew Records comes from 1-man Virginia band Come to Pass, who has been making brutal music since as early as 2019. Some of their releases have been digital only, but thankfully for listeners who like theirs ears shredded, their latest EP is available in digital or physical formats.
Come to Pass has gone through a number of different iterations and band member changes over the years which has affected the style, and at times the quality, of the music. At this point in time, the band consists entirely of one Nick Wiser, but on Splitting Shadows, that hasn’t been a detriment in any way. Sure, this is still the same band that put out Amongst Plagues, just 6 years prior, but in those 6 years Wiser has been playing, practicing, writing, and gaining levels of brutality and skill previously unheard.
I don’t know if Wiser is playing all instruments himself, or if there are any programmed elements. For what it’s worth, everything sounds organic for the most part. There might possibly be some programmed or midi drums (which is actually a pretty common recording tactic in this style), but nonetheless everything flows together nicely and is mixed really well.
Stylistically this is a brutal old school death metal. There are no -core elements here whatsoever, nor any melodic elements. But there are plenty of blastbeats, tempos approaching grindcore, beefy riffs, dissonant leads, and deep guttural vocals. Lyrics are not available in the single-panel insert, nor are they on the label’s Bandcamp page, except for one song, “Demon Splitter,” a brutal death metal tale of fighting the enemy with the Word of God:
Hurling in with force,
Splitting the vile entities,
The ones that diminish themselves,
Dwelling in surrender,
Broken, torn, I smash them with blunt force.
Speaking the holy words,
Combating the shadow,
In times of trouble,
The Lord answers my cry.
God of Jacob, keep me strong,
Build my foundation.
I am the demon splitter.
This is great stuff. It’s rough and raw around the edges, just like death metal should be. Neither over- nor under-produced. Recommended for fans of Crimson Thorn, early Mortification, early Entombed (pre-death & roll era), Bolt Thrower, Suffocation, and possibly even Mortician.
Check Bandcamp for ordering or streaming info: Splitting Shadows | Come to Pass
3.5 out of 5.
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