Spiritbox – Tsunami Sea
Spiritbox – Tsunami Sea
Pale Chord Music
Release Date: 07/03/2025
Review by Rory Bentley
9/10
When “Eternal Blue” dropped in 2021, I was fully expecting to turn my nose up at the latest product of the corporate hype machine. I’d been there so many times before with the Sleep Tokens and Holding Absences of the world where the final product just didn’t hit the spot for me, with relatively ‘safe’ mainstream friendly Rock being paraded as game changing innovation. No shade on those bands, they’re just not to my taste, but Spiritbox were different.
I immediately got the hype after my first spin of “Eternal Blue”, and though not every idea and experiment of their genre hopping approach has pulled off seamlessly, it hit the target more often than not and showed that a genuinely Progressive and innovative Metal band could have mainstream appeal without dumbing down and trying to be a less accomplished BMTH (you cut me deep, Architects!). It didn’t end up in my top 20, but the likes of ‘Holy Roller’ and ‘Sun Killer’ are permanently grafted to my gym playlist.
“Tsunami Sea” bears many similarities to its predecessor, yet it feels like the final form of the sound the band started on their debut. It is at once more crushingly brutal, dynamic and experimental while retaining the core elements that everyone fell in love with back in 2021. ‘Fata Morgana’ is a juddering Meshuggah-channeling juggernaut that sees Cortney LaPlante (once again magnificent), shredding her throat raw in the verses before delivering an ethereal croon underpinned by an exploding technicolour chorus as smooth and slick as the verses are coarse and rugged. The whole melodic chorus thing has been boring as shit for a long time now, but the lush, layered SophistiPop approach the band takes easily swerves any cliche accusations.
The lumbering grooves and icy vocoder vocals combined with EDM beats on the driving ‘Black Rainbow’ offer more sonic shapeshifting as harsh Tech Metal erupts out of sinister, industrial textures as the band accomplish more variety over the space of an opening two songs than all but a few of their ‘peers’ can muster. However, whereas there are plenty of Prog and Tech Metal bands capable of playing genre shuffle, they meld this eclecticism with massive songs like the sublime, soaring ‘Perfect Soul’ and the anthemic title track, both armed with choruses and hooks designed for the grandest of stages.
If you’re a sicko like me, however, you’ll be wanting more than a few festival bangers from your Metal superstars. Something filthy, abrasive and likely to upset your non-Metal appreciating friends and family- something like ‘Soft Spine’, which drips with bile and hatred while sounding like the guitars are melting and contorting like Robert Patrick at the end of Terminator 2. Alongside scabrous moments like the planet-sized beatdown sections in the otherwise creepy Techno beast ‘No Loss No Love’, the album is never too far away from taking a belt sander to your face. Aside from Knocked Loose I struggle to think of a band in recent years that have risen to such successful heights while seemingly making zero concession on creating cacophonous, wilfully inaccessible noise.
“Tsunami Sea” truly feels like a band having their cake and eating it, allowing their creative instincts and curiosity to guide their art rather than pandering to any crowd whether that be Pop or Metal. Despite being eminently palatable, the yearning, sultry choruses on the likes of the towering ‘Ride The Wave’ always feel authentic and organic, rather than meticulously crafted for radio play.
The highest compliment I can pay to this record is that it felt immediately accessible on first listen, and incredibly enjoyable to engage with on a surface level (which is a welcome fucking relief from the work I’ve been putting into grappling with the new Imperial Triumphant album), while offering up a treasure trove of rewards and hidden depths from repeat listens, through the lush, layered soundscapes and poignant, deceptively raw lyricism that tackles mental health and human fragility without ever resorting to shirt tugging cliche.
I have been ambivalent to vast swathes of ‘mainstream Metal’ for some time now, but Spiritbox continue to give me faith that not only is the genre in good hands, but there are bands that the kids and miserable bald fucks like me can enjoy purely on the quality of the songs they write. Believe the hype.
‘No Loss, No Love’ Official Video
TRACKLISTING:
01. Fate Morgana
02. Black Rainbow
03. Perfect Soul
04. Keep Sweet
05. Soft Spine
06. Tsunami Sea
07. A Haven With Two Faces
08. No Loss, No Love
09. Crystal Roses
10. Ride The Wave
11. Deep End
LINKS:
Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Rory Bentley and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
