Dark Matter is a moving album that sees The Word Alive expanding the parameters of metalcore. Fleshing out ideas introduced on 2014’s REAL., they fold the genre’s core components, including devastating breakdowns and alternating clean and harsh vocals, into dystopian art rock. A harrowing examination of the limits of self-knowledge, “Trapped” presents a claustrophobic mix of electronic textures and monstrous riffs. “Insane” and “Suffocating" use similar sonic elements, but their depictions of psychic and emotional isolation are even more brutal.