(written by Islander)
The Dutch extremists Deathless Void burst upon the scene in 2022 with a debut demo that Iron Bonehead Productions wisely picked up for release on vinyl and tape. Its experiences of dread and delirium spawned comparisons by the label “to later Katharsis or Antaeus or especially turn-of-the-millennium Thorns“.
Deathless Void opened that demo with an instrumental piece, and followed it with “The Shattered Realms of Man Become the Abyss” and the stupendous “Crossing the Threshold“.
Not the usual dispensable intro track, “Ignis Fatuus” created an authentically flesh-creeping sonic hallucination, building layer upon layer of dismal, diseased, and demented sensations, both haunting and nightmarish.
In the subsequent two songs Deathless Void maintained the intro track’s connections to hostile beyond-our-world dimensions but escalated into mind-warping paroxysms of violence. Even more elaborately layered than the intro but orders of magnitude more orgiastic, those songs scathed and screamed, hurtled and heaved, and twisted themselves into a multitude of unexpected directions — including episodes of blaring and boiling grandeur, thrilling exoticism, and bottomless descents into the ice-cold void of their name.
Now, Deathless Void are poised to release their first album, The Voluptuous Fire of Sin, again ushered into our world by Iron Bonehead. It includes those latter two tracks from the demo, plus seven other songs, and we have one of those to share with you today.
Photo Credit: Void Revelations
This new song, “Purple Triad“, perseveres in much of what made the band’s demo such a mind-scraping and mind-boggling spectacle.
Once again, the music is ingeniously intricate and elaborate, with tempos and drum patterns continually shifting, and the layered guitars creating a dense and distinctive interplay.
All the cavorting fretwork (and perhaps keyboard) contortions aren’t formless. They simply move constantly from motif to motif in a structured and sinister progression, and in doing so they create psychedelic visions of mystery, misery, madness, and lust. All those fiendishly eccentric twining sounds include sensations that are rough and raw but also glittering, and clear enough that all the moving parts can be discerned.
The music is anchored by an immense undulating bass, whose subterranean power adds to the song’s otherworldly dimensions, and further includes truly unhinged screams of berserk ecstasy or demonic fury, or both.
Iron Bonehead will release The Voluptuous Fire of Sin on vinyl LP and CD editions on September 20th, and it will be available to order on that date via the links below.
Through the player below, we also invite you to listen to another startling song from the album, “Vortex Climax“, which debuted earlier this year.
IRON BONEHEAD:
https://www.ironbonehead.de
https://ironboneheadproductions.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/ironboneheadproductions
DEATHLESS VOID:
https://www.facebook.com/Deathless-Void-103576735546776