There has been a strange, dark pall over this entire week, and it’s hard to say why. Perhaps it’s just my own psyche crashing back down to earth. But I also think it has something to do with the ambiance, the humid storming, the strange-looking skies, and that feeling that something’s a little off. Whatever it is, it’s making me feel the need to sink into doom.

Sinking down into that thick, dingy darkness along with me and the rest of us come Minnesota-based maulers Void Rot and their ferocious, clubbing debut EP “Consumed By Oblivion,” a three-track, 15-minute display of true morbidity that swallows you whole and refuses to let in the sunlight. Released jointly by Sentient Ruin and Everlasting Spew, this effort unleashes its horrifying ways, wraps its tentacles around you, and takes you down a path to hell that reminds of early 1990s Peaceville doom, with their claws firmly sunk into today’s death-like terrain. The band—guitarist/vocalist John Hancock, guitarist Kent Skralow, bassist Craig Clemons, and drummer Will Bell—also manage to captivate and send you into a foggy dreamland amid their destruction, leaving you to wander about aimlessly in your mind while under certain attack.

The record emerges with “Ancient Seed” that is foreboding and ruinous, as a thick cloud of power hangs in the air. The growls emerge and bubble, while the riffs encircle and create a tornado effect, with the band then going into deep sludging. The track then ignites suddenly, dropping heavy rains that saturate what’s below, and then things come to a clubbing, punishing end. The title track bleeds slowly to start, while the growls engorge, and the band lets loose with its assault. Muddy thrashing leads the way and sends dirt and rock flying, as things get into a sweltering tunnels, where the air is nearly too thick to breathe. As the pace gets heavier, the growls continue down the road to madness, and then a penetrating haze settles over everything as the cut bleeds away. Closer “Celestial Plague” has stinging guitars that opens up wounds, while humid rumbling pushes into the scene, and a slow-stomping pace crushes the earth. The guitars chug and later swim in filth, leading to the track being torn open from within, as the band unloads a hellish stampede that only ends once the lights go out for good.

This is but the first salvo from Void Rot, but if it’s any indication of what’s ahead for them, “Consumed By Oblivion” is something you’ll want to jump on now before people come around to it. Typically, we don’t feature a ton of EPs in the Pick of the Week slot, but this one just stood out from everything else this week when it cast its dark shadow. Void Rot is a band you’ll want to keep in the back of you head for when their full-length arrives, but until then, these three songs can take turns bruising your mentality.

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

To buy the album, go here: http://sentientruin.com/releases/void-rot-consumed-by-oblivion

Or here: https://everlastingspewrecords.bandcamp.com/album/consumed-by-oblivion

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

And here: https://everlastingspew.com/