Seven years after the release of their 2017 instrumental debut album, New York-based The Mantle is back with a brand new sound and an entirely different approach to modern metal. Led by guitarist and now vocalist Max Gorelick, the band has made the transition from instrumental metal to progressive death metal with their sophomore release Violent Cosmic Fortune, which tells the story of the formation of our solar system and life on Earth. The Mantle has transformed their original, upbeat sound into something much more dark, chaotic, and mysterious, while retaining the melodic and technical sensibility of their critically-acclaimed debut album. On Violent Cosmic Fortune, Earth-shatteringly heavy riffs are interspersed with virtuosic solos and melodic grooves in odd time signatures as the band explores genres ranging from melodic death metal to psychedelic rock to doom metal. The band’s new sound is reminiscent of modern metal pioneers like Opeth and Wintersun, but with a unique flair of their own. The band has fully embraced the addition of vocals into their music, using lyrics to tell a story of enormous scale. Gorelick’s low growls and midrange screams are accompanied by new addition Sky Moon Clark (Frogg), who brings energizing, technical guitar work and brutal high screams to the band. Asher Bank remains the force behind the drumkit, delivering a powerful performance across their new album.