Void Gazer

Relatively new Swedish metal label „Growls from the Underground“ has been on a winning streak lately. Having just discovered them via the great debut full length from Creeping Flesh here comes the next massive release by another new and quite unknown Swedish death metal outfit.

On “Void Gazer” Nekrosity went for mainly US styled death metal enhanced by influences from European bands like Asphyx, Bolt Thrower or Vomitory. The basic riffs are often fast and aggressive but sometimes also slow and stoic. The chords have a pretty simple and straight-forward feel to them most of the time but there are some cleverly implemented variations of the main themes. The lead guitar parts create a lot of atmosphere acting in the background for the most part delivering gloomy and sometimes even melancholic harmonies. Of course there are some traditional soloing parts but those are kept compact so that they never distract from the track itself.

The drumming is tight and on point. Most of the time the man behind the kit acts in mid-tempo mode adding a few well-timed fills and blasts but there are several occasions where he throws out some blast-beats. There are a bunch of sections where the tempo is completely slowed down and the music crawls out of the speakers like an undead. Those parts constitute some of the highlights providing a similar dark and oppressive vibe that can be found on several Aspyhx or Grave albums. Overall these guys really know how to create a hooky and highly enjoyable death metal song. The songwriting is tight and on point and the tracks never sound too simplistic or chaotic.

Singer Daniel has a very deep and powerful voice. His growls are delivered in convincing and powerful fashion and while he belts out the lyrics with brutality and anger each word can be perfectly understood. His vocals are the icing on this delicious old school cake and help ramping up the intensity to another level.

The production is raw and filthy but very dynamic and powerful at the same time. The band managed to find the right balance between sounding rotten and putrid but also crystal clear and punchy. Thanks to a nearly flawless mix “Void Gazer” is one of the best sounding albums of the genre I came across within the past few years.

Nekrosity will not win any price for innovation but I guess this is anyway not what they are aiming for. If they continue with their hard work and keep getting better and better I am pretty sure that these guys are on their way to the absolute elite of the genre. Everyone looking for a great mix of fast blast attacks and old school groove should not miss out on this one.