Records and bands that could change the landscape of metal take a little bit of time. Great albums and bands are not simply born overnight, and it often takes time on the road or in rehearsal getting all the pieces just right, all the infrastructure exactly where it needs to be.

You’ve likely heard that Colorado death metal dreamers Spectral Voice are a force with which to be reckoned. They’re accumulated a very justifiable reputation based on a slew of demo recordings and splits, not to mention their face-scorching live show, and now they’re finally registering their debut full-length effort “Eroded Corridors of Unbeing.” It has taken half a decade for the band to deliver this five-track, 44-minute opus that pays off every bit of pre-hype the band has received. Simply, this is one of 2017’s most inventive and immersive death metal records, one that isn’t concerned with utter brutality only. Yeah, it’s heavy as fuck, but it’s also a slowly simmering, cosmic display, one showered with doom’s blood and often drubs you until you have no choice but to submit. The band—drummer/vocalist E. Wendler, guitarists P. Riedl and M. Kolontyrsky, and bassist J. Barrett—bring experience from forces such as Blood Incantation (their ranks make up three quarters of this band), Abyssal Dimensions, and Stillborn Fawn, but what they do here stands far and away from those projects. This is a record that will turn your blood to ice water and make you feel like you’ve been haunted by some extraterrestrial force.

“Thresholds Beyond” is a 7:20 scorcher as dizzying guitars and scorches growls barrel out. The pace punishes while the vocals lurch deep below the filth, but then things go chillingly eerie. Clean guitars slide behind that, and then the tempo hits a calculating drubbing. The playing bruises and mashes, with the band giving this a monstrous end before the song slips into noise. “Visions of Psychic Dismemberment” is the longest track, stretching over nearly 14 minutes. The song starts in moody darkness before the punishment arrives. Nasty growls and muscular guitars intertwine as the things erupt. The drums do maximum damage, as a wild cry tears out of Wendler’s mouth, and we’re on to psychedelic madness. The track seems to be drawing to a close, but it’s a trick. The song restarts and goes down a terrifying path, opening more death wounds, and then they concentrate more on trampling. Screams scrape, chants rise like fog, and the song disappears into pulsating hell.

“Lurking Gloom” is a pace-changing instrumental where the riffs drizzle and chill the skin, clean guitars spill, and then things begin to soar and cut. We enter demolition at this point, as trippy melodies sink their teeth, and strange playing melts away. “Terminal Exhalation” runs 8:24 and begins with thick, somber riffs. Liquidy doom guitars bring heavy condensation before the band begins crushing you in their gears. The growls grind mercilessly while we head into a mesmerizing section that plays games with your mind. The guitars then bring on heavier showers that feel like a mid-winter freezing rain, and all that drains away into a psyche vortex. Closer “Dissolution” goes 9:38, and it brings the hammers early, as the band mauls and thrashes away. The riffs chug and swallow whole everything in its path, and then we head into violent hyperdrive. Wild screams wash through the night, while the tempo gets dangerous and fearsome before everything ends in a thick, ghoulish haze.

Spectral Voice’s debut offering may have taken some time to arrive, but it’s well worth it. Their approach to death metal differs from what most other bands have been doing (including their other projects), and this is a smothering, mesmerizing display that will leave your room spinning. This infectious, alien-like violence is impossible to shake and could have you visiting this record until you no longer have a grasp of your own reality.

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/Necroticdoom

To buy the album, go here: http://www.darkdescentrecords.com/store/

For more on the label, go here: http://www.darkdescentrecords.com/