(Here we have Wil Cifer‘s review of the second album by the UK death metal band Vacuous, which is set for release on February 28th by Relapse Records.)
Death Metal continues to gain popularity with bands like Cannibal Corpse as festival headliners and playing arenas. Its aggressive release makes it perhaps the most fun of all metal sub-genres yet it is all too often stuck in its ’90s nostalgia. This leads to bands idolizing the Morbid Angel‘s and Obituary‘s of the past and not always pressing forward with fresh new sounds and songwriting that moves beyond the bounds of its double-driven and growled vocals.
The sophomore album of Vacuous, In His Blood, finds the band breaking out from the pack to create their niche and find their way without leaning too heavily on their influences. Sure, guttural vocals are the main narrative, but other anguished vocalizations are employed, to give the tormented-larynx approach more purpose, rather than an obligatory gurgle underlying the frantic din.
Photo by Stanley Gravett
Evident in the opening title track, one of the album’s strengths lies in the interesting production choices. They build a cavernous atmosphere that shares some commonalities with Incantation, as it is spacious where most death metal hits you with a denser crunch. In doing so, they free themselves up to decorate this sound with eerie melodies.
The second song, “Stress Positions,” finds them locking into a more thrashing attack. Not as hooky in this manner as bands like 200 Stab Wounds or Gatecreeper, they instead opt for layered guitars to weave a swirling web of eerie melodies. This finds them hitting the elusive sweet spot for heavy music, by making them just as heavy sonically as they are metal.
They continue to dive into darker places on “Hunger”. The dynamics switch from creepy guitar with samples running through it to a head-first lunge into hyper-aggressive chugging. This makes for effective songwriting given the dynamic ebb and flow of the arrangement. It is not until four songs deep into the album that “Flesh Parade” finds the band making any effort to conform to the more classic death metal sound. The tempo increases to a more blitzed buzz of guitar, but they are not wearing their influences on their sleeves in this regard.
Another notable asset in their songwriting arsenal is a healthy restraint to not overplay or stray from the path of their songs by feeling compelled to always hit you with a bestial blasting onslaught. When they do use a faster flurry amid the otherwise dismal mood of “Public Humiliation” it hits its targets with more intensity. It’s also the first song with a guitar solo. So, no needless shredding either.
“Contraband” allows the bass to hold things down, which is a rarity as the bass is often buried under the drums on most death metal albums. “Immersion” has a dash of hardcore influence, but the focus is smothering you with a bleak oppression. “No Longer Human” strikes a perfect balance of shadow worship and animalistic menace.
This album has created a standard of originality against which death metal releases this year should be measured. It’s an example of how to be true to the spirit of the death metal genre without becoming a tribute band to your influences, and is one of those albums you can let play on repeat for an entire afternoon.
https://www.relapse.com/pages/vacuous-in-his-blood
https://orcd.co/vacuous-inhisblood
https://linktr.ee/vacuousdeath
https://www.instagram.com/vacuousdeath
https://www.facebook.com/vacuousdeath