Perpetual Paradox May Misery Befall You Review
Perpetual Paradox
May Misery Befall You
Bleeding Art Collective
2026
London-based heshers Perpetual Paradox have been kicking around in the UK metal scene since 2021. With a burgeoning name amongst the underground there, several EPs and one full length to their credit, they have returned with the hyper-focused and streamlined beast that is the five-song May Misery Befall You.
The quintet writes emotionally charged modern death metal with some thrash and metalcore elements, the latter mostly evident in the tight, very crisp and crystal-clear production, breakdown sections and the use of cleanly sung vocals. Thematically, these songs seem to touch on grief, trauma and resilience behind precision-heavy yet melodic “Gothenburg sound” riffing, sporadic and chaotic blast moments, Middle Eastern clean guitar passages, mournful singing and searing leads (“Bound and Strangled by a Black Snake”). The sad melancholic keys that stir this opener up are a proper build for the intensity that comes in shortly afterward.
These guys also know their way around technical and shifting passages (“Source of Hate”) which also marries the tried-and-true low growls/high screams vocal dichotomy with string scraping breakdown included for good measure. “Laconic” is much of the same with busily picked guitars, a lethally heavy start-stop chuggy breakdown and another cleanly sung interlude replete with ethereal clean strings and atmospheric keys. I must mention that the flawless interplay between the guitar tandem of Oliver Miles and Jorge Nunes is dutifully impressive as they both have riffs, chops and shredded ability for days.
While their 2025 full length “Dethwish” saw the band reaching across a broader spectrum, the compositions here feel much more reigned in and trimmed of any unnecessary fat with THE RIFFS taking center stage. Make no mistake, the dudes (rounded out by Andre Luís De Barros on bass and Harry Cook on drums) can play, but the technique never overshadows the song dynamics and overall structures. This is perfectly evident in the most death metal informed track, the aptly titled “Smell the Rot”. Rapid-fire tempos collide with riffs that move all over the fretboard and jump between the acidic highs and lows of Adrian Caucelo's cheese-grated vocal chords.
The closing title track starts with angry gruff growls before shapeshifting into a speedy verse peppered with a mid-paced chug bridge and more tentacle-armed guitar work and drums. The coolest thing about this one is the melodic section and soaring singing that is bookended by another clean guitar and keyboard-soaked interlude. Things get heavy again for a bit, only for them to change gears again and whip out a melody-heavy sung outro that recalls prime 2004 metal, only to bludgeon again right before an abrupt end. And that's that.
The EP only clocks in at 20:40, but they pack those minutes full of ever-changing dynamics, sharply intense songwriting and quite a few twists and turns. May Misery Befall You is sure to appeal to fans of modern dm, technical dm, metalcore, black metal and even prog rock. Perpetual Paradox have given us a straight-up burner that will further their growth and propel them into modern metal's upper echelon. The paint-by-the-numbers template has officially been burned to the ground….
RIYL-The Haunted, Legionary, Nights of Malice, At the Gates, Soilwork and early In Flames
~TB