Spectral Voice / Undergang

Denmark's Undergang and America's Spectral Voice are two of my very favourite death metal bands. Both of whom keep the old school alive, albeit in rather different styles. Undergang's rancid grotesqueries and the eldritch eeriness of Spectral Voice is certain to give us a truly immersive descent into morbidity. The split is currently out via Extremely Rotten Productions and Dark Descent Records.

First up are Undergang, with three exclusive cuts for this rotten release. Mangled riffs jump into a visceral array of convulsive spew while hammering drums give an equally daunting backdrop to the putrescent assault. The hideous grooves and vomitous vocals entwine with that disgustingly masterful grip on death metal that Undergang have perfected across their extremely busy career. Plenty of tempo dynamics and catchy moments are ingrained to give us an exciting blend of body-splicing soundscapes from the crypt. Sepulchral atmospherics harken back to the likes of Abhorrence while the more Autopsy-esque meatiness remains ever-present. Listening to this side begins to feel like sinking into the swampy mud of a flooded graveyard (think Return of the Living Dead) while the sonic barbarity throws more corpse-ridden soil upon you.

Festering, chunky and barbaric; Undergang are showing no signs of losing their creative spark as these three new offerings spray phantasmal ichor upon your mortal being just as effectively as the bands back catalogue would suggest. Chundering bass lines from Martin give that thick, but loose low-end attack while the gristle-laden guitar riffs from David and Mads effortlessly drape further fetidness into the sound space. David's vocals are as puke-ridden as ever and Anders' drumming is hard hitting and ferocious. Aside from the mid tempo meatiness and doomy catacomb lurking, there are some violently thrashing moments too. Altogether Undergang utilise a diverse yet always mortifyingly heavy mix of sounds while staying true to old school death metal. Nothing here feels like a weak link, offering three of the finest cuts of charnel decay you will hear this year. This is fæl rådden død!

Flipping over and Spectral Voice have a singular piece, though spanning over thirteen minutes, it is certainly not a short one. Opening with a slow build of distant guitars and rolling drums, the tension and sparse bass reverberations are chilling. Bludgeoning rhythm sections and ghostly convulsions spew into life with a funereal pace, delving deep into extremity with bellowing sonic cacophonies of rot. Hideously low vocals bring this evil sombreness to the instrumental insanity, giving this unhinged and unearthly feel to the music that crawls under the skin with a dynamic and unnatural feeling. Building in pace, the intensity of this lengthy piece is utterly crushing with no moments rushed or overlooked. The warm and organic production is drenched in reverb to give an abyssal depth to the crisp death metal as each rumbling bass note, squealing pinch harmonic, haunting lead, snarled vocal or churned riff seeps from the ether.

The noxious and hostile atmospherics here showcase beautifully how a more nuanced approach to death metal can be just as ruinous and vicious as any other, perhaps more so, when still retaining the ancient methods. The tremolo picked sections feel disturbed and the blast beats use some excellent cymbal flavour to bring out the melodic side of things while the downtrodden pacing retains that chest-shattering heaviness. There is an almost cinematic feel to the track which is aided gloriously by the production, which is absolutely massive. Clearer moments add gloom and a spaciness to the songs vibrant dynamics, which are so diverse yet perfectly coherent. Perhaps the most expansive Spectral Voice piece to date, this is unmissable for all true lovers of doomed death metal depravity. Stay death!

Naturally a meeting of two such phenomenal artists in the death metal underground would be nothing short of magnificent and this split did not disappoint. Undergang's fetid murk and Spectral Voice's gloomy eldritch atmospherics conjoined perfectly into a conjuration of all things morbid. Although offering vastly different takes on the genre, their adoration for propelling old school decay into unfathomable excellence is equal and both bands offer true greatness here. A unique vision of visceral violence that is haunting, revolting and absolutely wicked to the core. Definitely a split that will be replayed for all time, capturing a historic meeting of the best death metal bands around in this era. Do not falter, submit to the rotten spirit of death and revel in the soundtrack to your mortality...

Written for www.nattskog.wordpress.com