Richmond’s Terror Cell returns, no longer confined to the basement origins beneath a tattoo parlor. Their latest, All Quiet, turns the volume up on their anti-war stance, channeling the raw energy that marks them as one of Richmond’s notable voices in heavy music.
Dropping their second LP via Fisher King Records, All Quiet expands on themes that surfaced in previous releases, with a particularly scathing critique against the glorification of war. Their sound—rooted in screamo, noise, metalcore and sludge—comes together in a way that’s unflinching and direct, embracing both aggression and grief.
The album opens with “Anthem For Doomed Youth,” setting the tone with a soldier’s turmoil over his actions in battle, interwoven with melodic tension. A conflicted narrative unfolds, filled with remorse and dread, portraying the soldier’s struggle with his moral compass and thoughts of self-destruction as a form of penance.
Tracks “Bloodletting” and “Silent Rapture” follow, delivering fast-paced indictments of capitalism’s profit-driven approach to warfare. These shorter cuts pack a punch, embodying Terror Cell’s approach, reminiscent of early hardcore but layered with screamo’s piercing emotional charge.
In the middle of All Quiet, the band presents a balance between heavy breakdowns and ambient instrumental sections, a trick that softens just long enough to deliver impact before hitting harder.
“Dulce et Decorum est,” one of the album’s centerpiece tracks, explores the “sweet and fitting” lie often perpetuated about dying for one’s country. The track builds to a climactic breakdown, underscored by the ominous chant “March to your tomb” over shrieking feedback, making a powerful statement on the cost of militarized propaganda.
Closing with “Did You Come For Blood Alone?,” Terror Cell constructs a journey that moves from quiet mourning to intense fury. A quiet intro of clean guitars and restrained vocals gives way to a final, frenzied outpouring of grief and rage. It’s a fitting end, tying together the album’s themes of sacrifice, loss, and disillusionment with militaristic ideals. The static that concludes the track feels like an echo of voices lost in the haze of war.
Visuals for All Quiet, crafted by Richmond artist Miriam Cooper, are as intense as the album itself.
Her work, a blend of abstract collages steeped in blood red and golden yellow, embodies the album’s bleak thematic core, depicting a figure seemingly struck by the weight of loss.
On November 19, Terror Cell will celebrate the release of All Quiet in Richmond at The Camel, joined by screamo legends Ostraca, Beggars, and Kristeva.
For those unable to catch them live, the album will be available in vinyl through Fisher King Records and on cassette and CD via Shopping Cart Hero Records and Soft Grit Recordings.
