After releasing a pair of demos and a trio of splits, the time has at last arrived for the Italian death metal band Devoid of Thought to present a debut album — and it doesn’t take a crystal ball to predict that it will give this band the kind of rapt attention that the music so richly deserves.
The fact that it’s being jointly released by such connoisseurs of metallic extremity as Everlasting Spew Records and Caligari Records is a dependable sign of the album’s quality, and the mind-blowing songs on Outer World Graves bear out their good judgment.
And speaking of seizing attention, the album’s cover art by View From the Coffin is guaranteed to do that — as will the track we’re premiering today in the lead-up to the release of Outer World Graves on August 27th.
Not for naught is Devoid of Thought‘s music branded “cosmic death metal”, and there’s also value in the comparative references you’ll see to such bands as Timeghoul, Blood Incantation, Demilich, Voivod, and Incantation. The sounds are twisted and ferociously head-spinning but also chilling, creepy, and dangerous. As you spin yourself into the sonic vortices they create, it’s indeed easy to become devoid of thought, wholly consumed by the experience.
The song we’re premiering today, “Sidereal Necrosis“, is a prime example of these qualities. It’s a wild ride right from the start, thanks to a livid, pulse-punching, firebrand of a riff that’s ejected over riotous drumming and nimble bass cavorting. The blazing and boisterous energy of the song stays in the red zone for minutes to come. The guitars boil and roil, even though the roaring vocals are monstrous, but the feeling in the music is often grim and ravenous as well as ecstatically berserk.
The complete, full-throttle, abandon with which the band throw themselves into this thrill-ride is enough to take your breath away (and to banish thought), but the band keep this sonic rocket on course by pulling back in that terrific opening riff and other recurring fretwork motifs.
There does come a point in the song’s mid-section when breathing becomes easier, but it’s a chilling digression that the band provide — an excursion into musical off-planet realms that are vaporous but also punishing. Rapidly flickering guitars and sounds of howling hostility re-surface over spine-jolting grooves, and they lead the song into madness and mayhem, building tension and a sense of frightening turmoil. That pulse-pounding opening riff will bring a smile when it returns — but it’s a nightmarish collage of ambient radiations that provides the finale.
Devoid of Thought is: Andrea Collaro (Guitars and Vocals), Lorenzo Gagliardi (Guitars), Marek Sollami (Bass), and Davide Botturi (Drums).
Everlasting Spew will release Outer World Graves on CD (and eventually on vinyl), and Caligari will provide a tape release. Both labels will offer it digitally as well. Pre-orders will soon be available at the locations linked below.
PRE-ORDER:
CD: http://www.everlastingspew.com, https://everlastingspewrecords.bandcamp.com/
Tape: https://caligarirecords.bandcamp.com/album/outer-world-graves
DEVOID OF THOUGHT:
https://www.facebook.com/DevoidOfThought666
https://devoidofthought.bandcamp.com/