Volatile Forms

Following a truly superb and unique demo, Dead Void are back with more abyssal death metal in the form of a full length.

Before mentioning the music, it is interesting to note that the record starts and ends on songs upward of ten minutes in length, the longest pair, which creates a vacuum of sound with the lowest point of punishing death metal at the epicentre. Now, let us begin. Beginning on crunchy, drawn out riffs and subterranean vocals atop crashing cymbals, the gravelly and void-lurking soundscapes are truly unwelcoming. It takes time to shift, but when the riffs change up, we get some punchy grooves and meaty hooks while keeping the production to a masterfully hostile grotesquerie, certainly not an accessible listen. Dead Void have a uniquely blackened and doomy tinge to their death metal which harkens to the likes of Incantation and Rottrevore whilst upholding the most filthily vile accents of claustrophobic atmospherics to a superb level. This music crawls below the surface of your skin, festering, rotting you from the inside out.

Though my focus has been on the feel of the music, which is impeccable. The songwriting is truly interesting, and for those who can get past its abrasiveness will find some truly mangled riffing, skull-crushing drum work and barbaric vocal delivery. With lead work minimal and leaning more into whammy-abuse, there is denying the savagery that is presented across the board while offering a concoction of potent and intoxicating atmospheres that paint a landscape of suffering in the deepest voids of the mind. I think it would be fair to call Dead Void an unusual death metal band, which is why I hadn’t forgotten about the demo tape Me Saco Un Ojo Records sent me four years ago. Though upholding all of the most morbid and essential elements of the genre, they do not rely on history to propagate filth, despair and ferocity. Like a corpse rolling in a tepid, maggot-ridden grave, this record moves slowly but violently into the most unhinged corners of musicality.

Gloriously, Dead Void string these horrific musical abominations and sonic monstrosities which conjure apparitions of decay with stomping grooves that can genuinely be regarded as catchy. Not in a flimsy sense, but rather slimy grooves that trickle tar into the bloodstream with sledgehammer-blows of heaviness. Lurking, creeping and rotting sounds present themselves at all the right moments and propose ideas of disdainful nothingness while filling the air with truly unfathomable sound. Often the try-hards and pretentious failures fall away quickly, whereas Dead Void’s slow demo-tape release schedule has progressed without rushing to a conclusion, thusly when one is offered it is of high quality. An immensely crushing, uncomfortable and brilliant conclusion at that. They eulogise the archaic and unshakable essence of death metal yet stride forward with it, without despoiling its magical and magnificent core. This must be commended, but also experienced for oneself. A monumentous effort indeed.

Labyrinthine, agape death metal that shrieks into the vortexes of the mind only the most visceral and taunting of sounds. Soaked in charnel atmosphere and delivered with unforgiving musicianship presented by a pulverising production, this effort takes the strengths of the demo and moves further into the mental funeral march. A sadistic listen that will penalise surface-fan culture and reward true maniacs seeking the diabolical and dark arts of death metal.

Written for www.nattskog.wordpress.com