My bud Alex, the owner of Dolorem Records, has sent me yet another promo for one of his bands, and this time it’s Supreme Void, a Polish death metal band playing a dissonant style of extreme music.  Fans of Ulcerate, Immolation, and Gorguts take heed of this bad boy.

“Remnants of Hope” opens this six-song 38-minute affair.  So you know the songs are longer than average.  The opening bendy riffage definitely has an Immolation vibe, then right into the swirling non-linear Ulcerate blasting.  Some very deep and powerful vocals.  The band uses ridiculous names for the members.  Cyklon on drums, Exile and Ravager on both guitar and vox.  After the blasting, it’s right into the atmosphere, then this slow, doomy section with some absolute killer vocals and growls.  This middle section then picks up the pace with more bendy riffs, having you take out that Obscura album, from Gorguts.  These riffs are complicated and over the blasts bring forth the Ulcerate influence rather well.  What a way to open this debut album, from these up and comers.

“Eclipse of the Exalted” opens with a very strange guitar riff, then right into the blasting, then back into this strange riff.  This is so Ulcerate.  You try and wrap your head around the riff, but it may take some repeated listens to fully absorb.  Believe it or not, yes, there are harmonies and melodies alongside the strange riff patterns.  Vocals are deep and powerful and help to make this menacing.  There are stop-and-start blast patterns along the way, so don’t get too comfortable headbanging.  Around the 3.09 section there are swift and tight drum rolls, and that is one item this tune has, plenty of cool drum rolls, coming out of the blasts.  Now the blasts are not chaotic, they are tight and strategic.  If they were chaotic, I think it would be too much, since, as previously stated, these guitar riffs are dissonant and non-linear, making for a complex listening experience.

“Sustained By Malice” starts off slow and lumbers at over seven minutes, this song takes its time building up with the mid-paced opening moments and some of the opening start and stop moments have a bit, dare I say djent feel, that Meshuggah would say, Ok, Ok, I see you Supreme Void!!  The song gets into softer realms and eventually, some guitar soloing happens around the four-minute mark.  The song continues to stay in a mid-paced direction before erupting with a powerful blast with those weird guitar riffs, you know, add Gigan to the mix, a bit as an influence. With these riff patterns coming from some galaxy, far, far away!

Towards Oblivion boasts a very sharp production and mix.  This is a type of music that can go off the rails really quick and become unlistenable if a tight production is not achieved.  Fortunately, Supreme Void took the time and care to ensure they locked this production down.  And this helps everything become coherent and everything breathes, like you want in this style of music.  While these guitar riffs are complicated to listen to at times, they cut through most excellently and are precise.

This is quality avant-garde dissonant death metal, which, to fully appreciate, like those above-mentioned bands, will require repeated listens to fully absorb.  I got this album from the start, but continuing to go back to it invites even more nuances to the listener’s ear.  Complicated, intriguing, and forward-thinking death metal.  Damn fine debut album!

 

 

[Visit the band's website]

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