REVIEW: ERRA - silence outlives the earth
Two steps forward, a slight step back
42:41 // March 6th, 2026 // UNFD
ERRA’s last album was… divisive, to say the least. Cure saw the progressive metalcore band moving away from the intricate fretboard wizardry that they had built a brand on, and traded it away for technical Meshuggah-esque grooves and industrial ambience. The results were split, not helped by the album coming directly after ERRA’s widely acclaimed self-titled album, which is still one of the freshest releases in modern metalcore a half-decade after its initial release. Suffice it to say, fans were hungry for ERRA to return to form.
And when “gore of being” dropped late last year, it looked like we were about to get our wish. As I explained in my coverage of that single, this was the perfect melding of Cure’s grooves with ERRA’s technical mastery, the old and the new coming together to propel ERRA onward into the next album. And, 8 months and four singles later, we finally have ERRA’s newest gift to us hungry listeners, silence outlives the earth.
In many ways, this album is everything ERRA fans have been waiting for since 2022, the technical fretboard work back at the forefront, JT showing off more of his screaming (and singing!) range, and a great blend of peaceful ambience with some of the most crushing riffs this side of the scene. At the same time, as has been said time and again in the leadup to this release, Cure has not been forgotten, with plenty of chugging and industrial aggression present. I’m actually very, very glad to see ERRA melding their recent styles together, rather than tossing Cure away as a failed experiment, and it actually further shows the potential that Cure had, as the technical chugs actually slide in perfectly alongside Jesse Cash’s winding leads.
But what I feel is more interesting in terms of lessons taken from Cure is silence’s further emphasis on softer sounds and poppier leanings. ERRA had already been experimenting with this for a few albums now, with songs like “Vanish Canvas” and “Memory Fiction” from the self-titled, and “Blue Reverie” and “Past Life Persona” from Cure. silence, on the other hand, emphasizes this to an absurd degree, whether it be through Jesse’s softer vocals on the chorus of opener “stelliform”, the entirety of “echo sonata” (which was initially my least favorite single, but has since grown on me immensely) and “black cloud”, or the heavenly outro vocals of album closer “iii. twilight in the reflection of dreams”. This album contains the most pop-esque cuts of any of ERRA’s work up to this point… and miraculously, it works! ERRA’s strength has always been in their songwriting first and foremost, and it’s stronger than ever here, which keeps those poppier cuts from feeling stale or boring.
And, rest assured, ERRA still has plenty of heaviness in the tank. “further eden” contains what I think has become one of my top 5 favorite breakdowns from this band, with Jesse unleashing some of the weirdest-sounding harmonics that sound jarring in the best way, all before JT lets loose with an unholy scream to bring the song home. “cicada siren” continues the legacy of “Slow Sour Bleed” and “Crawl Backwards out of Heaven”, and if you can listen to “i. the many names of god” without at least partially thinking of “Scorpion Hymn”, I salute you.
Now, from the sheer amount of glazing I’ve been giving this album so far, you might be expecting me to call this a masterpiece or a 10/10, right? Well… yeah, here’s where the monkey’s paw curls. See, ERRA have undoubtedly returned to form in many ways (and even improving in some places, with “black cloud” containing some of Jesse’s best vocals yet), but it comes with a huge caveat: this album might be the least cohesive ERRA release since Neon.
Hold on, put away your pitchforks really quickly. This album is still leaps and bounds beyond Neon, the songwriting is far tighter and less formulaic, and the production is nowhere near that album’s travesty of a mix. But silence outlives the earth is an album that unfortunately is solid as a whole, but slightly less than the sum of its parts. Each song is excellently crafted, but the album is one of the only ERRA albums that flows a bit more awkwardly from track to track, especially noticeable in the almost jarring transition from the softer Jesse-led “black cloud” to the pummeling “cicada siren”. It’s hard to overlook when ERRA have been known for a while for their cohesive full album experiences. Even Cure, for all of its divisiveness, had a super solid flow from beginning to end.
Don’t get me wrong, silence outlives the earth is an utterly fantastic album, a super fun listen from beginning to end, and I almost guarantee that it’ll be on my “best of 2026” list. If any other band had released this, I would probably glaze it even harder than I already have. But it’s hard to fully embrace this album when you know what ERRA is capable of. ERRA are still solid songwriters and performers, and give us what we want, even if it’s more of the same. I sure as hell can’t be mad at that.
8.5/10
Favorite tracks:
further eden
gore of being
echo sonata
black cloud
spiral (of liminal infinity)