It's here at last; the first official full-length from NYDM legends Suffocation without the vocal talents of Frank Mullen at the helm. And Hymns from the Apocrypha is the sound of a somewhat reenergised band, easily more than obliterating their previous effort, 2017's disappointing ...of the Dark Light. There's positives and negatives to replacing such an iconic vocalist, of course, which come across particularly when hearing his guest spot on the rerecorded Ignorant Deprivation, closing the album. To be blunt, Mullen sounds tired and strained next to new guy (well, since 2019) Ricky Myers, formerly of Disgorge; Myers may not have as much personality in his dry growl as Mullen, but it's perfectly serviceable and at points sounds akin to Mullen in his early 90s heyday.

Where longer-term fans might have an issue with Suffocation circa 2023 is in the instrumental side, which has been buffed up to the point of nearly sounding like another band at points. Especially with guitars and drums, there's a crisp technicality beyond even the usual Suffocation standards to where it sounds downright clinical and inhuman. Sure, songs blend together initially, sounding samey and lacking the standout hooks that the band used to be so cunning in hiding in plain sight, yet there's much to praise immediately too, the greater use of guitar solos making an impact immediately as the opening title track rumbles along with the solos giving it a missing melodic edge and making the near-six minute piece feel much shorter. And the riffs feel as though they were taken straight from the early 90s, Terrance Hobbs and newer guy Charlie Errigo more than carrying their weight and ensuring that Suffocation in 2023 sounds like a more polished version of the band from thirty years before.

There are plenty of marks of skilled songwriting once you're a little more familiar with the album, the false starts and finishes on Perpetual Deception, for example, which also takes on a slight Decapitated-esque edge to its riffing (which will have some complaining about deathcore-isms!) or the melodic death dramatics audible on Dim Veil of Obscurity, crushing waves of heaviness swamping the listener in classic fashion thereafter. Even some Morbid Angel-isms on the start of Immortal Execration sound perfectly judged before the song continues to rip through your eardrums, a slower-paced rumble somewhere between the Floridians and Immolation before returning to crushing NYDM. And it manages to distinguish itself from the ensuing Seraphim Enslavement, all stop-start thrashy aggression and widdly soloing, as well as the following technical showcase that opens Descendants, growing more atmospheric by its end.

If you'd have asked for a perfect comeback attempt that married the earlier and later sounds of the band, this is a damn good attempt, minus perhaps some of the extra hooks that crept in on the still underrated self-titled. Delusions of Mortality especially could have come from one of the classic Suffocation albums, a powerful ripper that sounds more energetic than the work of many a younger band. Hymns from the Apocrypha more than keeps the band's legacy safe, taking a classic sound that many rightfully love and showing how to make it relevant in 2023 - long live Suffocation if this is the quality level that we can expect, easily trouncing that last (very good) Cannibal Corpse album and even boasting a good (almost too good) production for once courtesy of Cryptopsy's Christian Donaldson. Sorry, Montréal, New York more than takes this one...!