Heady and ferocious, The Death We Seek is Currents at both their most powerful and most vulnerable. Songs like “Unfamiliar,” “Vengeance,” “Remember Me,” and “So Alone” are unflinching explorations of rugged emotional terrain. Currents are uncompromisingly heavy and as raw as a nerve exposed.

They’ve taken their visceral maelstrom on tour around the world, supporting bands like Ice Nine Kills, Parkway Drive, August Burns Red, Fit For A King, As I Lay Dying, and We Came As Romans. A combination of their diverse influences, channeled through unique perspectives and personal experiences, Currents alternate between thoughtful and unhinged. Those well-versed in the likes of Meshuggah, Vildhjarta, and Architects have embraced Currents with full-throated passion.

Currents is frontman Brian Wille; guitarists Chris Wiseman and Ryan Castaldi; bassist Chris Pulgarin; and drummer Matt Young. A winding DIY road through earlier lineups resulted in a series of self-released EPs, all leading to the band’s acclaimed debut album, The Place I Feel Safest (2017).

Leitru and Wiseman co-produced The Death We Seek, and the band’s guitarist engineered Wille’s vocals himself for the first time. Jeff Dunne (Wage War, Ice Nine Kills, Make Them Suffer) mixed, making for a massive yet nuanced slab that serves as a Currents mission statement going forward.

The lyrics are thoughtful yet accessible, eschewing easy sloganeering for depth. Massive breakdowns, a driving onslaught of riffs, and black metal-worthy beats juxtapose against moments of ambiance, tranquility, and stripped-back melancholy amidst the dense, weighty madness.

The band keeps a dedicated focus that ensures each release serves a purpose, with a cohesive journey from start to finish, as complete artistic statements vs. a disconnected batch of songs.

Across all three albums, in every live show, and with each increasingly cinematic piece of visual storytelling, Currents fearlessly search for meaning amidst uncertain chaos. Abuse, depression, neglect; no trauma spared. They also cast their gaze outward, offering no mercy to an exploitative system that inflicts harm on people, animals, and the Earth, with a weaponized bombast.

As New Noise rightfully declared: “CURRENTS is a band not to be ignored.”