One is never quite sure what to expect from Italian Doom, oft laden as it is with a Deathly rattle or Psychedelic, Stoner grooves. The initial strains of ‘The Devil’s Conjuration’, the opening track from Void Of Sleep’s second full-length New World Order (Aural Music), show a slightly chaotic, progressive structure: Riccardo ‘Paso’ Pasini’s gloriously clanking bass cushioned by layered keys and occasionally Djent-style rhythms from the drums and squirming riffs.

Doom actually seems to be the understudy here: vigorous, crashing grooves dancing along the paths of ‘…Conjuration’ and the ensuing ‘Hidden Revelations’ with only a fuzzing, deep rhythm guitar pinning down the Low-end influence. The latter shows a real Prog sensibility, from the cosmic slower sections which are graced by Andrea ‘Burdo’ Burdisso’s languid, mellifluous tones, to the angry creativity of the tangential battery and occasional harsh vocal. This invites a range of comparison: the expansion of Coheed and Cambria; the melody and angular rhythms of Karnivool; even the rampant cacophony of Dillinger Escape Plan or Meshuggah. Yet Void of Sleep meld these fractious, dysfunctional cousins into a vital and hugely engaging whole.

The early, mournful guitar and dragging weight of ‘Order Ab Chao’ is the first earnest show of monolithic intent, yet the pace is soon re-energised by another prancing behemoth of a groove, with Andrea ‘Allo’ Allodoli’s syncopated patterns both sinister and enlivening. Alternatively there’s a soft melancholy to the glorious title track, again nodding to Karnivool’s wistful yet powerfully rhythmic moments, which seems more in tune with a sad foreboding than a celebration of a new coming. The album’s fearful tale is constantly magnetic, its diverse wonder not least explored in the slightly overlong, epic closer ‘Ending Theme’: a drifting yet powerful monster, flitting between moments of airy whimsy and slow yet thudding brutality. Groove-ridden passages see time switches and discordant cascades handled in unison and with consummate ease.

Maybe this is the kind of album Opeth should make in order to re-unite its warring fanbase. In the meantime, let’s herald this gloomy yet vibrant coming which is as delightful as it is foxing and involving.

7.5/10

PAUL QUINN

[amazon asin=B015CVRQ80&template=iframe image1]