Floridian Killing Addiction have recently suffered a loss of one of the founding members and one of the Bailey brothers, Chad, to a terminal disease. Condolences to the Bailey family and the band. No idea if Shores of Oblivion EP was conceived and released before or after Chad’s untimely passing.

Historically, the band took a long time between its releases and stuck to the line of brutal American death metal. Shores of Oblivion does not deviate from the blueprint much, but leans towards technical and somewhat melodic side of the band. Engine of Ruin, with its booming sound, determined double bass and bottom scraping voice proclaim that Shores of Oblivion will be a swampy, no frills affair along the lines of Vore, Vital Remains and Jungle Rot, yet cutting solo may be a sign of things to come. Beginning with Cult of Decay you can discover the strange ominous harmonies in these hurried chaotic pile ups. Killing Addiction seems to almost revel in the first 1.5 minute of Extinction Agenda before the meatiness, the sweaty inevitability of rolling forward leaves no room for mystery. The cleaner intro to Into Shadow is a prelude to a slower doomier tune, which eventually slides into a tight double bass groove, with episodically funky moments and a cool solo to close.

It seems that Killing Addiction was biding their time, perfecting their art while discovering new edges to their death metal when a tragedy struck. No knowing if the band will continue, but Shores of Oblivion was quality and enjoyable 15 min of classic American death metal.