Author: Primož Novak
Artist: Within Destruction
Label: Rising Nemesis Records
Release: year_month
Length: 34:48
Rating: 4.5/5
Slovenian death metallers Within Destruction teased their new album Void for quite a while. But before Void itself, the band showed its new direction with the single Carnage, which also includes the track Bloodbath. It was a more-than-obvious step up from the debut. There was a bigger focus on brutality; the melody was still there, but you could feel the band wanted something more than just playing the Slovenian version of As I Lay Dying, The Black Dahlia Murder and assorted deathcore bands in the vein of Whitechapel, which is what you could hear on the debut From the Depths. The debut was a solid start, even if it came off as forced at times, the way an adolescent band trying to imitate its American idols tends to. Still, credit where it’s due: WD aren’t yet another band trying to copy the chewed-over old-school acts from the nineties.
With Void, Within Destruction’s sound takes a serious turn. The apocalyptic cover art, painted by the renowned Pär Olofsson, hinted at that from the start. He’s done covers for a ton of bands, among them Exodus, Malevolent Creation, Aborted and others.
The music says even more. After the intro Dark Impairment, the title track makes it clear that the single Carnage was only a gentle taste of what you get on Void. Void hits hard and fast like some modern brutal outfit that has no time for polish aimed at luring in a bigger crowd. Up front you get fast pedals and blast beats, fast guitars sworn to low tunings, an incredibly deep and powerful growl, and merciless breakdowns that aren’t dragged out like in so many deathcore bands. Within Destruction had warned earlier that they were leaning toward slam death metal, probably the most brutal form of death metal today. It’s maybe a slightly risky move, since it means any prettified melodic parts and cheesy sing along breakdowns are out. The songs aren’t predictable either. A slow part can be followed by an insanely fast one, or the other way around. A good example is A Spiral Towards Damnation, which wraps up the brutalization with an atmospheric, keyboard-driven outro. To some extent you can guess what’s coming in a track, but never entirely. The Wrath of Kezziah stands out here with an infectious melodic guitar in the chorus, which is pretty unexpected after all the fast riffs, atonal melodies and breakdowns.
You can definitely hear nice progress in every member. Drummer Luka has gotten faster and is without a doubt a standout factor in the band. Rok Rupnik’s vocals have gotten deeper. They may have become a little harder to understand, and there are some so-called pig squeals too, which make the whole thing that much more brutal and intense. But his progress since the debut is plain to see, and let’s hope every Slovenian band that wants to play something more extreme takes him as an example. The guitar riffs from new guitarist Damir Juretič are heavy, and there are some more technically skilled touches here and there that spice things up a bit. In some songs the atonal melodies really stand out, adding variety as well as atmosphere, which makes it all the more morbid. That’s of course a plus, because it gives the album more dynamics and keeps it from feeling like everything rests on brutality alone, which quickly turns dry. That’s a problem for plenty of bands that call themselves brutal while writing every song from the same mold. Last but not least, bassist Janez Skumavc plays his part with confidence. He doesn’t stand out with any tricks of his own, but he nicely fills out the guitar lines, comes through solidly in the mix, and gives the breakdowns their weight.
The album also features guest musicians who are the faces of the global extreme metal scene these days. Adam Warren (Oceano) and Jamie Hanks (I Declare War) contribute their growls as guest vocalists, though neither is all that recognizable. Archspire guitarist Dean Lamb adds a solo that you’ll definitely recognize if you’ve ever spun anything by Archspire. In short, across its 35 minutes the album offers quite a bit of variety.
Within Destruction are definitely proving that a stylistic transformation has happened. And not just in their look, which now rests on longer hair, muscles and tattoos. The music has gotten more brutal, and it’s obvious the band drew inspiration not only from the more widely recognized bands but also from the underground, where there’s a whole lot more extremity. These days one more extreme form of death metal is called slam, and that has rubbed off on WD too. By some opinions, slam death metal, represented by Devourment and some Russian bands, is quite different from deathcore, which is less brutal, simpler, and whose standout factor is of course the breakdowns. Slam death metal and deathcore are supposedly heterogeneous genres, but a few years ago, in the middle of deathcore’s boom, deathcore bands also showed up that approach things more brutally, with songs that aren’t built around the breakdown. Good examples are Ingested and Acrania, who repackaged deathcore and made it known that deathcore can be plenty brutal. A similar pattern is now visible with Within Destruction, who use deathcore elements to prove that slam death metal and deathcore can be homogeneous. The clear production probably backs that up too, though at times a given instrument sounds a bit sterile. Either way, with Void Within Destruction have taken a big step forward, one that’s significant not only for the Slovenian metal scene but for the international one as well.
Void, which reflects the band’s maturity, is an intense, uncompromising and brutal release. The Slovenian metal scene can undoubtedly boast one of its most extreme records to date. The album is also a good sign of things to come: WD tried something new, took risks and got more than a good result.
Lineup
Rok Rupnik – vocals
Luka Vezossi – drums
Janez Skumavc – bass
Damir Juretič – guitar
Production
Within Destruction, Albert-Mario Lampel at Massacre studio (drums, post-production)
Tracklist
1. Dark Impairment
2. Void
3. Plague Of Immortality
4. Desecration Of The Elapsed
5. Rebirth Of An Inverted World
6. A Spiral Rift Towards Damnation
7. An Unforeseeable Anomaly
8. The Wrath Of Kezziah
9. Martyrs (Of The Wendigo)
