It’s weird living in America and watching the conversations about Russia change mysteriously. Oh, not about the people who live there. They can’t help it. No, the leadership. We can detest the politics but still want its people to succeed, and that’s the sloppy way I am starting to talk about Void Monuments and their debut record.

“Posthumous Incantation” is the Russian band’s debut album, and it has all the hallmarks of traditional death one might come to expect. It’s heavy, devious, dark, and hits all the right buttons. The band—vocalist/guitarist K. Svart, guitarist P. Doom, bassist Ivan, drummer Bestial Barlog (potentially not his given name)—makes a good case for themselves on these eight tracks and 36 minutes, keeping up the intensity and the bloodshed. There is potential for them to expand what they’re doing and inject more of themselves into the music, so there’s time to branch out as they grow.

“Intro” opens dramatically, winds whipping, synth pulsing as screams lash and organs fade into “Epitome of Fear.” There, guitars fire as the band thrashes away, throaty howls bursting as fires char. Drums rampage while the growls coat the pain, the leads taking off and fading into the night. “Devilish Prophecies” is doomy and barbaric, pummeling with evil intent, beastly howls sending listeners into a vortex of madness. Darkness and filth unite, menacing tones send jolts down your spine, and chilling organs exit with strangeness. “Decapitate the Saints” blasts open, the guitars adding to the heat, the brutality multiplying dangerously as the leads carve paths into flesh. The spatter accumulates as throaty wails peel flesh, and the guitars mount a final attack that ends in fire.

“Ascent to the Crucifixion” dawns in deathly fog, guitars vibrating as doom flows through veins, sweeping into impenetrable gloom. Growls smear as the pace pounds harder, soloing goes off and spits fire, and the screams melt and jostle into carnage. “Invocation” rings out in the air before bringing down the hammer, the guitars knifing their way into your psyche, infernal pressure taking you apart. Drums rupture and blister as the stream builds and rolls, liquifying guts before allowing an ounce of mercy. “The Sign of Blasphemy” has riffs firing and blasting, the pace hulking along, making muscles ache. The guitars stun as the growls maul, spacious melodies adding air to the suffocating aura, exploring to an abrupt end. Closer “Father of Sin” starts in clean, eerie strangeness, and then brutality arrives, growls squeezing arteries. Sludgy elements make this even heavier, the speed pulverizing, howls engorging, the final moments scorched into eternity.

Void Monuments waste little time establishing their entry into hell with “Posthumous Incantation,” a strong first record that leaves the band with some room to develop. This is misery and punishment from front to back, a record that should leave you flattened. They could stand to add a little more of their own personality and musical DNA into future releases, but as a first shot, this is really solid stuff and should leave ample bruising.   

For more on the band, go here: https://www.instagram.com/voidmonuments/

To buy the album, go here: https://shop.bloodharvest.se/product-category/blood-harvest-records/preorders/

For more on the label, go here: https://www.bloodharvest.se/