Album Review: Extortionist – Stare Into The Seething Wounds (Unique Leader Records)

Extortionist, the beloved US deathcore/metalcore band, are back with their brand-new album. It’s called ‘Stare into the Seething Wounds’ and it is out on October 10th, 2025, via Unique Leader Records.

I do love a band that rises above genre placements and finds new ways to confuse the purists. A band that willingly evolves, a band that strives to do something more each and every release, and a band that isn’t happy to just sit back and churn out another record that sounds like their last, even if that last one was hugely successful. Of course, while I celebrate all of this, I also don’t want a band to head off in a completely different direction, transforming to the point of being unrecognisable.

It’s a tricky balancing act, but damn it, do Extortionist do a fine job of it here. Downright eerie, uncomfortable, and weird, the opening title track might be more of an intro, but its effect haunts long afterwards. It will be unexpected for those waiting for explosive deathcore energy and intensity, but fear not if that’s you, as it flows right into the manic Aftermath of Broken Glass, and here is when things get heavy.

Vocals that spit venom directly into the ears, riffs that rip and tear through the soft parts the mind, and drumming that is the equivalent of having a cinderblock dropped on the head from skyscraper height. It can be insane, especially when a breakdown hits, but it’s also so very hooky too.

Varied to the point that The Break I Couldn’t Mend has a grungy tone with clean singing, Starve is filled with threatening hardcore stomp that gives way to utter violence, Submit to Skin is daringly nu-metal with a vein of that grungy sound running through it, and Cycle of Sin rages with two-step energy to a headache inducing point. If you can’t find anything to like about this album amongst these tracks, there is no hope for you.

I dig it, I dig the fact that it’s not just thirteen deathcore tracks and while the level of quality fluctuates, Extortionist give it their f**king all. Though that doesn’t mean I’m not game for a track or two that gives me heart palpitations, such is the vehemence on show. No Safety is one such track, and it slays. I freaking feared for my life when the breakdown hit, and I bloody listened to this alone!

The clock is turned back again with Dopamine, but the trippy edge this track has is what most will remember. Personally, the bubbly vocals and echoing instrumentation does little for me. It’s rare miss for this band, as their heavy has been nothing but impeccable elsewhere. Giving us even more dynamic head bangers like Lobotomize Me, chaos-mongers like Detriment, mucky retro alternative anthems like Low Roads, and hysterical deathcore heavyweights like Invisible Scars (Part II).

Satisfying to the end, even if the finale of Do You See It? proves to be the album’s most experimental effort. Albeit in keeping with what we’ve experienced so far in one way or another. Which sure has been mighty fine, right?

Extortionist – Stare into the Seething Wounds Track Listing:

1. Stare into the Seething Wounds
2. Aftermath Of Broken Glass
3. The Break I Couldn’t Mend
4. Starve
5. Submit To Skin
6. Cycle Of Sin
7. No Safety
8. Dopamine
9. Lobotomize Me
10. Detriment
11. Low Roads
12. Invisible Scars (Part II)
13. Do You See It?

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