March 7th, 2025
Today is a great day for Spiritbox fans. They have unleashed their brand new album Tsunami Sea, their most bombastic and genre bending venture yet. This album is a combination of their crushing riffs, heart-wrenching vocals, and industrial sounds that combine Nu-Metal nostalgia and Modern Metal at its finest. Tsunami Sea is everything you love about Spiritbox, magnified by a thousand suns. They are a band that doesn’t miss because of their uncompromising concept of defying all expectations, Ironically, you simply can’t put them in a box. Eternal Blue is one of my to 40 albums ever made, so I had incredibly high expectations coming into Tsunami Sea. However, it is impossible and unfair to compare albums, as they’re entirely separate in every way. Tsunami Sea is a monument of brutality that stands entirely on its own. It is extreme. The spectrum and enormity of this album is staggering. I’ve only heard this level of extremity a few times in my life, and I love it. Spiritbox are experts at absolutely pummeling you with riffs, then soothing your soul to a meditative state with beautiful clear vocals and smooth rhythms. Tsunami Sea expands on this concept and does it expertly with wall-of-sound production. To say this is a special album is an understatement. It is dedicated entirely to the late and great Spiritbox bassist Bill Burr wo unexpectedly passed away last July. This tribute is gut-wrenching and so beautiful to all who knew Bill and how much he contributed to the Metal community.
Tsunami Sea is the rawest Spiritbox album yet. It is a lot to take in upon the first couple listens. This is going to be a slowburner for the rest of the month for me. This release feels like a long time coming after listening to Eternal Blue approximately 500 times since it came out. It is everything I expected, but so much more. I feel like adding Josh Gilbert to the lineup was a brilliant idea. The bass and backing vocals add so much to this record. He and Courtney have great harmonies and chemistry, which adds texture and depth that is vastly different from Eternal Blue. I think Zev Rose is a bit quieter on this record, but still adds some groove that breaks up the brutality of the seemingly endless layers of guitars. I prefer the guitar sounds on Eternal Blue, just because there were more layers of melodic harmony that added heart and atmosphere to the album. But, if this album is a personification of anger and pain, the instrumentation, lyrics, level of distortion, and truly inhuman growls amplify the theme perfectly. The highlight is really Courtney LaPlante’s vocals and storytelling on this album. It’s like she’s narrating the struggles they’ve been through in such a fluent way. It just hits so hard, it lingers for hours after you listen to it. She is a once-in-a-generation vocalist with unbridled power and shock factor that will last her entire career. Tsunami Sea is Courtney LaPlante at her apex.
Overall, this is a great Modern Metal record. This style of Music is not usually my thing nor area of expertise, but Spiritbox are the pinnacle of this new wave of Progressive Metalcore/Deathcore. They’ve brought brutality to the mainstream and crossed-genres of fans from every walk of life. Tsunami Sea shows the impact and the pure power of this band to absolutely captivate with their sonic presence. I love this band and I am so far really impressed with Tsunami Sea.
My favorite songs so far: Ride The Wave, Perfect Soul, Tsunami Sea, A Haven With Two Faces
Check out Tsunami Sea:
https://palechord.com/blogs/news/spiritbox-tsunami-sea-out-now
Metal Valkyrie 