ALBUM REVIEW: Devoid Of Thought – Outer World Graves

Italian Death Metallers DEVOID OF THOUGHT return to follow their series of splits and demos with a debut full length album. Out via Everlasting Spew Records and Caligari Records on August 27th.

Cosmic ambience starts out with feedback and synths before a bellowing riff and cymbal work alongside droning bass contorts into life with a punishing, visceral and totally crushing delivery of Death Metal. The slow paced double kicks and drum fills gloriously underline malicious guitars and spewed vocals with some slightly progressive edge to the sound to add that dissonant flare of other realms while keeping the meaty, old school feel alive with a murky, lurching soundscape. The reverberate style of production complements the ethereal leads and guttural rhythms equally well with a layer of filth concealing rather resplendent and intricate Death Metal that shows some bold ideas utilised in a way that still feels brutal and legitimately heavy. Sampling often subtly appears to add more ambience to the record while not undercutting the sonic blows of the band, rather accentuating the niches of the music. Similarities to bands like Tomb Mold, Blood Incantation and the like would not be amiss, but Devoid Of Thought also have a lot of doom and grit to their sound which is more akin to European bands. This blend conjures a wonderfully grotesque yet intelligent sound that blunders yet with precision, show versatile playing and technicality that can still sound rotten.

The musical complexity is really easy to get into here, for the band to do not make obnoxious showmanship a key element of their sound. They have the skills, they shamelessly use them, but they do so with a unity and common goal of concocting cosmic Death Metal of superb quality. The warped atmospherics and juxtaposing riffs jump around in a somehow organic yet inhuman fashion that creates a vacuum of celestial oddness, plunging us into the depths only for the mind to be invaded by technicality of otherworldly origin. Some of the lead work goes full-bore insane on this record while never feeling like an annoying gimmick, keeping the riffs constantly drudging and gruesome with that meaty production and sledgehammer drum attack while the vocals seem to naturally ebb and flow among the instruments. I must say, this thing is masterfully crafted and does make it easy enjoy this huge opus of sidereal soundscapes while it forgoes feeling “light” or plain stupid. Occasionally a more technicality-oriented section can be grating if it outstays its welcome, perhaps this will become more subtle on subsequent releases, but this is a minuscule complaint among a huge endeavour such as this record, so do not let that put you off. This is the real thing, exotic and yet primally savage Death Metal where old meets new in a way few have achieved so gloriously.

A magnificent debut. The band clearly does not struggle with finding their identity, blurring lines between international scenes / sounds and coming up with something both old school and yet totally new. The songwriting, execution and production all fit together seamlessly and the influences on this band can be heard clearly without directly ripping anyone off. Hopefully this is the first step in a grander design, as there is huge potential here, a lot of which has already been reached but I am sure they have even more to offer.