The Struggles of the Earthly Ones - A Victory for Searching Serenity Posted May 03, 2021 By RyanAdams_NRT, Staff Reviewer
What You Need To Know Searching Serenity's sixth album, The Struggles of The Earthly Ones, is melodic deathcore at its finest. This is also one of several albums from the band now led by one member: musician Robert Manzone. The 13 tracks are full of intense death metal music and biblical lyrics.
What It Sounds Like This melodic deathcore album has what any fan of death metal would want. On the musical side, there is nothing lacking. Maybe because it's a solo project, Robert is able to weave all the pieces together cohesively. I love his guitar work: catchy riffs, fun guitar solos, and crushing breakdowns.
Spiritual Highlights Every song is based on scripture and is accompanied by life experiences. The majority of the lyrics deal with condemning ungodly behavior and people. The tone is much like a prophetic word found in the Old Testament and echoes in the New Testament. Songs like "The Doubting" and "The Brokenhearted" are different in style with `prayerful and personal outcries to God.
Best Song In "The Doubting," we hear a plea for God to come and remove doubts of His glory in our hearts and minds. Our enemy, Satan, is called out as the source of our doubts. The lyricism is captivating and relatable, plus Robert's vocal range is fantastic. Another album favorite is "The Brokenhearted" for its songwriting, but especially for the guitar work and great solo.
Bottom Line The Struggles of The Earthly Ones marries the intense emotions of life and judgments of the Bible with brutal, symphonic deathcore music with excellence. Robert displays impressive talent in everything, especially vocally. I think he could have taken more risks creatively and still come out on top. Any fan of extreme music needs to hear this album.
