Artist: Bitter Loss
Country: Russia
Label: Self-Released
Formats: Digital Demo
Year: 2025
After two successful EP’s released in 2021 and 2022, both issued by several labels with the second EP even being issued on vinyl by Headsplit Records, the Russian Death Metal band Bitter Loss lay silent for a couple of years. Perhaps they deeded a bit of time to rearrange a few things as not only the logo of the band changed, they also recorded this new 5-track demo with a partially new line-up.
Musically, however, the band didn’t change that much. ‘Valleys Of The Fallen Empire’, the previous EP, was a more than solid piece of Death Metal which harbours a clear penchant for mild technical ingenuity. In my review for the EP I described it as being somewhat in the middle between old Immolation and mid-period Incantation. That comparison is still pretty much valid for the most part, in fact it seems the guys have taken the complexity of their compositions a step further.
But, just like with Immolation, it doesn’t distract from sounding just solid and heavy with enough crunch and punch to both the riffs and the drums. The many slightly unorthodox riffs and leads mind remind you of the first three albums of the New Yorkers, just as with the previous EP, Bitter Loss doesn’t sound like a mere copycat. Besides the fact that there are actually very few bands that are able to imitate the sophistication of Immolation, the chunky riffs and slightly more contemporary vocals makes Bitter Loss a band that that has plenty to offer by itself. Adding to the overall experience is an impressive sound that dwarfs even its predecessor: meaty and powerful, enough to serve the music with extra depth, something that is actually most evident on the slower and doomier parts of the songs.
Another thing that has changed since the preceding EP is that the three new tracks of this demo (the other two being re-recordings or previously released songs) have Russian song titles, and probably lyrics too, but that’s a bit hard to determine. Whether or not that has something to do with a shift in concept or has no deeper meaning at all is yet to be seen. But what is abundantly clear, is that Bitter Loss is a band that is brimming with talent but seems just stuck in the wrong country at the moment. Despite that insurmountability, I hope there is still a future in this band, otherwise it would be a bitter loss of the talent present in this foursome.
