Review by Alex on January 26, 2021.

Sounds like stomping someone in the face till all anger has been exhausted and tears begin to fall from your eyes in a final act of remorse. Suffering Hour's 2nd album, The Cyclic Reckoning sees them onwards and upwards towards atmospheric black/death metal royalty. Comprising five 5 monolithic, power chord-riff infused obscurities, The Cyclic Reckoning introduces you to a musical world bold, beautiful and tyrannical. With vocals hulking, and an ambiance being manipulated and altered, your state of mind would not be able to rest once you have made a commitment to sit and endure the psychological and emotional turmoil that Suffering Hour has prepared most surgically for you.

You will be surprised as to how quickly the music moves on The Cyclic Reckoning; though the tracks are so lengthy with the shortest being 'Strongholds of Awakening', they sound very much related, as though a single composition had undergone fragmentation. This makes the record easy to follow and almost trance-like within its sway of deceptive riff structures and at times unpredictable drum patterns. As though the vocals utter its piece only to be interpreted and rephrased by the guitars, it seems as if the same message is being conveyed only by means of different communication methods. Whether it be the tongue of the snare, that of the strings or of the domineering, voiced-articulation, The Cyclic Reckoning makes no mistake in placing the listener in a state of wander and disarray altogether.

A rollercoaster if you may from start to end that would even go at length to surprise the listener with sudden shifts in tempo and even progressive elements on the final track, 'The Foundations of Servitude' to heighten the dynamic effect. Climaxing at select moments then slipping into depressive states with slower melodies aided with ailing power-chords, the 16 minute opus brings the vision ever obscured to a fading and sudden closure. A most highly recommended album to anyone that wishes to hear the beauty possible of being portrayed even on a black/death metal record of such ferocity.

Rating: 9.3 out of 10