Spectral Voice‘s sophomore album Sparagmos (Dark Descent Records) is possessed by a dark anguish that draws you in. A decade or so ago this brand of Atmospheric Death Metal was labeled “occult death metal” and referenced bands like Necros Christos who follow Incantation’s lead down into the doomier depth of death metal.
This band also follows a similar path. They enjoy wallowing in the darkness, pacing their songs frequently with a doomier mood. This tendency toward abysmal dirges is contrasted by getting worked up into a more blast-beaten frenzy.
If we wanted to continue throwing around metal sub-genres to figure out where the “you are here” on the sonic map is, Black Metal could get tossed into the cauldron as well. Each one of these terms holds an emotional significance with its style. The more blood-red aggression is washed over with a coat of darkness, though some riffs still ring through the fog.
The drummer here is also the vocalist and manages to muster an often impressive roar. The dynamic ebb and flow of their songwriting have continued to mature, even more the kind of extreme crushing chords they are bringing. They typically do not linger in the ambiance for too long, and have a knack for finding the best riffs to build things back up into a head-banging triumph. This is heard particularly on “Red Feasts Condensed into One”.
“Sinew Censer” is more of a contrast as it drones off angular guitar riffs creating an eerie dissonance. It is more about the sound than the song here. When it does build into the more Death Metal climax, it’s not the album’s catchiest riff, but still proves effective for this song.
The last song is visceral enough, but after it kicks in it succumbs to a listless chaos, hovering without form. It is this use of atmosphere infused into the song’s drive that drags you through the sonic hellscape. This is another example of where they feel more like Black Metal than Death Metal to me.
That is until the growl erupts from the tremolo-picked cacophony. Four and a half minutes in and things have not progressed into a more musical middle ground. Sure the vocals are plenty nasty, but as common with most bands of their ilk, they are merely another texture, rather than forming any hooks to bring you back for a return listen.
This raises the question of what you need when it comes to the more extreme forms of metal. Things are constructed in such a manner that it is evident in the dynamic shifts of these arrangements that they are making an effort to write songs, rather than just settling for dialing the gain and lowering the tuning enough to capture a sound. Sometimes it serves as a puzzle where I find myself going back for a second listen to figure out what I just heard once my ears stopped ringing.
Do you enjoy getting lost in the sonic storm of an album, where the intensity comes full circle to lull you into a drone of crunch? If so this is the album for you as it channels this in a manner that hits the right creepy spots.
They are not a run-of-the-mill Death Metal band, but a journey into a tapestry of sonic torture.
Buy the album here:
https://darkdescentrecords.bandcamp.com/album/sparagmos
8 / 10
WIL CIFER