It’s still technically summer here, but the daylight is expiring sooner, and the skies are sullen, reminding that the cold weather and morose times are creeping up on us again. That’s not a complaint at all, as these are the days that live deep in my bones, a time to retreat into the shadows and take in darker colors and art that matches.
Danish death metal power Dead Void should be perfect fodder for the colder weather, and their debut full-length album “Volatile Forms” is a daunting, sooty destroyer that has a power and force that drags you into the dirt. The band—guitarist/vocalist K, bassist/vocalist D, drummer/vocalist A—digs deep into scuzzy, muddy doom metal, giving off some classic metallic vibes that turn your organs black. The five-track, 44-minute beast is oppressively heavy, unforgivingly bleak, and takes its toll on your psyche in a way that burns you back to your most vulnerable state.
“Atrophy” enters in a thick, doomy haze as the growls wrench, and the lurching pace aims to bury you in smoke. Speed picks up as the filth increases, punishing and battering, erupting in fiery residue that reminds on heyday Celtic Frost, at least tonally. Guitars bubble as the playing slowly mauls, scathing howls scrape minds, and eventually everything falls to ash. “The Entrails of Chaos” explodes in a savage gust as growls engorge, and mucky stomping increases the violent pressure, lightning brooding fires that coat your lungs. Growls mash as warped playing twists your psyche, guitars add more heat, and some final blasts bury this thing under bloody soil. “Sadistic Mind” takes its time developing an ambiance, turning the screws, absolutely bulldozing with strength. Growls dig deep inside and bludgeon organs while a gut-wrenching pace intensifies, drums crush, and the guitars turn rock to lava. The tempo slows crushingly as your brain is left dizzied, and infernal howls slam down the final dagger.
“The Reptilian Drive” is sludgy as hell and instantly open wounds, the growls mauling with reckless abandon. The stomping grows agitated and chaotic as the nastiness becomes an even greater factor, hammering hard and adding insults to the festering wounds. Guitars catch fire as the heat turns oppressive, blinding and turning misery into a terminal condition. Closer “Perpetually Circling the Void” is the longest track, running 11:01 and immediately bringing morose and brutal tidings as heavy blows land against the ribcage. Punishing howls dice flesh as the playing drubs mercilessly, steam rises and clouds your vision, and it feels like you’re being encased in stone, left to suffocate. Throaty growls do ample harm, the outright meanness multiplies in a hurry, and the monstrous power breaks through the earth’s crust and turns everything into a global graveyard.
“Volatile Forms” is a massive statement from Dead Void, one of those records that leaves you physically and mentally exhausted when your time with the thing has ended. The devious ghouls you only see in shadows on their promo shot dress this record in mystery and torment, almost as if they’re fleeing the scene after setting up an explosion that hasn’t reach you yet. This is mangling and horrific, an album that pulls you apart limb from limb and leaves you to suffer in your own juices.
For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/TheDeadVoid/
To buy the album, go here: https://www.darkdescentrecords.com/shop/
Or here: https://www.mesacounojo.com/shop/dead-void-volatile-forms-lp/
For more on the label, go here: https://www.facebook.com/DarkDescentRecords/
And here: https://www.mesacounojo.com/
Meat Mead Metal 