Few artist monikers are as fitting as Relentless Pursuit, the one-man-band metal project of Kentucky's Matthew Konradt. Although presumably selected in reference to God's relentless pursuit of us, it's hard to imagine a more apt descriptor for Konradt's musical pursuits than "relentless." Releasing on New Year's Day 2026, The Aftermath EP is the follow-up to the mid-2025 album, Apocalypsis, and as usual, Konradt handles all of the composition, performance, and production duties for the project. This EP features six songs which, for the most part, continue Konradt's upward trajectory as a self-produced artist.

The set kicks off with "Introductio" (Latin for "introduction"), which is a fun teaser for what's to come. The song starts off as if it's merely a subdued instrumental track before exploding into unexpected metal fury, as Konradt screams, "Open the firmament!" It's a striking opening statement that points to the heaviness to come; other than a few instances of spoken word, Konradt commits to screaming throughout this EP. Considering that critics have oft noted that Konradt's screaming is a far greater strength than his clean singing, it's awesome to hear him make an entire project that commits to screaming -- and he sounds as emotive and brutal here as ever before.

The EP's third track, "He Is Coming," was also the digital single which preceded the full project, and it's an easy highlight from The Aftermath, with its blistering blast beats, ferocious growls, and adventurous rhythm guitar chugs. The song oscillates between heavy grooves and disjointed chaos, amplified by booming 808 drops that permeate the mix to grand effect. Konradt regularly layers his screams with a low layer and a high shrieking layer, which sounds full and ominous. The drumming is intense, with intricate drum fills and cleverly placed snare hits. This song's most glaring flaw appears in the final twenty seconds, when a lead guitar riff pops up that is noticeably out of time with the rest of the instruments. Konradt's rhythm guitar timing is usually tightly locked in with the drums, but the same can't be said of his lead guitar riffs. In this instance, the song would have benefited from muting this riff. Konradt's style seems well fitted to the type of chuggy, low-end metalcore that escrews lead riffs in favor of heavy, active rhythm playing.

Throughout the project, the lyrics are serviceable albeit brief, with short phrases spread out across slow growling deliveries. There are a few eyebrow-raising moments, though, such as the line "Our actions on earth will determine our admittance into His kingdom" from "He Is Coming," which carries a strong scent of works-based salvation. The strangest lyric is found on "In Despair," sung from the perspective of the Nephilim (Genesis 6:4). In theory, singing about the Nephilim within a death metal song should be a winning combination, but the song contains one odd standout line: "Integrated into your technology." It makes me wonder whether Konradt is suggesting that the internet or smart phones or perhaps A.I. is a vessel for modern-day Nephilim, but nothing else in this song (or other songs) provides context for this declaration. In the future, more care needs to be taken into the timing and meter of the screaming. But on top of that, as Konradt writes new material, I would recommend that he present his lyrics to two people: first, a pastor or elder from his church who can review the lyrics for biblical accuracy (which, to be fair, is something I think all artists should start doing); and second, a friend with a keen eye for grammar. (For reference, the errors I saw are found on "In Despair," where "devours of all mankind" should be "devourers," and on "Ambush," where "less they suffer" should be "lest.")

The final two tracks, "Ambush" and "The Aftermath," mark a welcome change of pace, thanks to the guest vocals from Altarheart on the former and to the latter being an instrumental. However, both feel a bit like missed opportunities; clocking in under three minutes each, they sound undercooked. I would've loved to hear more from Alterheart on "Ambush," and there isn't anything particularly special about the title track's music, which sounds less like an intentionally instrumental composition and more like a normal song with missing vocals. The contrast is also stark because these two tracks follow the middle two, which are undeniably the EP's strongest: the aforementioned "He Is Coming" and my personal favorite, "Trapped Inside." Colored by hardcore/punk-flavored drums, "Trapped Inside" contains some of the EP's best vocal performances, most hopeful lyrics, and coolest musical ideas. Unfortunately, these inspired ideas are often more interesting for their potential than for their final execution. Halfway through "Trapped," the song abruptly drops to only drum and bass, ushering in a slow-burn instrumental section that adds strings and lead guitars. Conceptually, this composition choice is stellar, but in its current form, the lead guitars are out of time and the obviously-fake strings are oddly, haphazardly arranged. It's still effective when this relatively softer section explodes into chaotic black metal, but it's hard not to pine for how great this song could be if Konradt would bring collaborators into the fold whose skills complement his shortcomings.

I can't entirely fault Konradt for wanting to handle every duty of the music-making process by himself. I too have found great pleasure in crafting recordings where I played and produced everything myself; but in saying that, I also know how difficult it is to try to constantly improve as a guitarist, as a lyricist, as a programmer, as a mixing engineer, as a mastering engineer... and the list goes on! Konradt's efforts at growing and learning across all these disciplines is admirable, to be sure, but if he desires future Relentless Pursuit albums to reach the quality of albums from, say, Ulterium Records, then he needs to stay focused on what he does best: instrumental composition, rhythm guitars, and screaming. Other duties (clean vocals, lead guitars, ornamental/orchestral instrumentation, and mixing/mastering) being handled by people who expertise in those arenas would make a world of difference. (Speaking of Ulterium, Konradt could find some inspiration by looking at the story of Theocracy transitioning from Matt Smith's one-man project into a full-fledged band.) I see only three roads forward for Relentless Pursuit: to collaborate and delegate, to take a long break between releases where he can really sharpen his skills, or to plateau. If Konradt is satisfied with the quality of his output and simply enjoys the process of regularly making and releasing music for fun, then I would never want to discourage that; but if he has higher aspirations, then something needs to change -- and I say that with full confidence that the potential for greatness is there.

- Review date: 12/10/25, written by Chase Tremaine of Jesusfreakhideout.com

 

 Record Label: None
 Album length: 1 track: 3 minutes, 23 seconds
 Street Date: January 1, 2026
 Buy It: Bandcamp

1. Introductio
2. In Despair
3. He Is Coming
4. Trapped Inside
5. Ambush (feat. Altarheart)
6. The Aftermath (Instrumental)