Void Rot – Consumed By Oblivion Review

When a promotional electronic missive arrives in the Last Rites mailbox (we only accept physical mail, obviously) and it’s recommended for fans of Rippikoulu, the Board of Directors knows to immediately get it into safe hands. Void Rot was one of those bands granted the illustrious and glorified fate of being immediately rushed into an airtight vault for safe-keeping. There it sat, awaiting proper ears to unlock its cosmic secrets and deliver it unto the general population.

The band’s debut EP, Consumed by Oblivion, is a brief affair with three tracks spanning under sixteen minutes. Throughout that short run, Void Rot wear their influences on their sleeve, taking keys from Krypts, Funebrarum and Incantation. Guitar lines pour forth from the speakers like month-old molasses. Undulating ever so softly, those lines are joined by slow, drawling double bass lines and vocals soaked in humid reverb. As “Ancient Seed” (phrasing) crawls on, the drums become chaotic and thunder off cavern walls to create a centrifugal force within the composition.

It’s around the minute-and-a-half mark in “Consumed by Oblivion” that a true riff bursts forth. Old school death metal is suddenly ushered in as fans everywhere begin to slam their craniums, softened by years of abusing Mountain Dew Code Red, into the nearest wall or floor. This is the high point on the EP. Slowly, the riff fades into a quickly picked single note lead that is accompanied by intricately (and tastefully) layered guitars, one calling as if far removed from the recording studio. The layering creates depth, adding to the murky sound of Void Rot and skewing the project towards the newer school of death metal.

By the time the closing track (about ten-and-a-half minutes) spreads into existence, Void Rot has roundly declared who they are and what their intentions are. Thus, “Celestial Plague” reveals no surprises as the track grinds through it’s five-and-a-half minutes. The weakest track on the EP, “Celestial Plague,” becomes somewhat of a void for songwriting. Without the interspersion of ideas, the monotony is palpable. Further, the extended, painfully slow intro would feel more at home on an album of LP length. On an EP, it serves only to dampen enthusiasm.

A brief affair, but an affair nonetheless, Consumed by Oblivion is a promising debut from a band with all the potential to join Spectral Voice and Blood Incantation in the echoey caves of murk atop the newly risen death metal volcano. The quartet would do well to include more diversity in their composition to balance the monotony of the vocal attack, though. Hint: more headbanging riffs, please. But overall, this is a quite mature, polished debut from a few youngsters.