Threads Of Unknowing, the second album from blackened/technical death metal collective VOIDCEREMONY, is now streaming in its entirety, ahead of its official release this Friday through 20 Buck Spin.
Upon the release of the first full-length album, Entropic Reflections Continuum: Dimensional Unravel, it was instantly revealed that VOIDCEREMONY was treading a path few walk. The album proved that death metal can be performed with the gliding, controlled chaos, and smooth fluidity of a jazz quartet, while still leaving the listener holed up in a dungeon, low on HP, out of spells, and surrounded by deadly demons.
Threads Of Unknowing is a journey which resurrects concepts on earlier display and summons evermore progressive and technical compositions. Mastermind and guitarist/vocalist Garrett Johnson and guitar virtuoso Phil Tougas (Atramentus, Chtheâilist, Worm, First Fragment) share both vocals and lead guitar duties here, while bass god Damon Good (Mournful Congregation, Stargazer) weaves both fretted and fretless bass mastery and drummer Charlie Koryn (Ascended Dead, Vrenth, Chthonic Deity) encompasses not only speed and brutality, but a fine mix of precision and improvisation from jazz fusion. The result is VOIDCEREMONY and their signature sound: time-melting death black fusion.
With an apt cover painting representing the lyrical and philosophical vision of an ancient and forgotten future, VOIDCEREMONY itself seems to be operating on an alternate death metal timeline that once made itself known, but only briefly, and was soon left behind for more commercial appeal. Yet the portal has been reopened and the merging of these boundless possibilities and directions are now being brought forth directly once again. Fans of Stargazer, Pestilence, Chtheâilist, Morbid Angel, Immolation, The Chasm, Aenigmatum, Atheist, Timeghoul, Liers in Wait, and Innana should not miss VOIDCEREMONYâs Threads Of Unknowing.
Threads Of Unknowing was recorded around the world from May through October 2022 in Oregon, California, Quebec, and South Australia, and was reamped, mixed, and mastered in Italy by Gabriele Gramaglia (Cosmic Putrefaction) who provides additional synths to the album. The cover art was painted by Juanjo Castellano (Majesties, The Black Dahlia Murder), with additional art by Shoggoth Kinetics and Kyle Bowen included in the layout by Dan Fried.
Listen to VOIDCEREMONYâs Threads Of Unknowing in its entirety at YouTube RIGHT HERE.
Threads Of Unknowing will be released April 14th on LP, CD, CS, and all digital platforms. Find preorder options at the 20 Buck Spin webshop HERE and Bandcamp HERE.
VOIDCEREMONYâs Charlie Koryn, also of labelmates Ascended Dead, is currently out playing drums for Morbid Angel on their ongoing US tour.
“After the first album, I was expecting a mind-bender of progressive/technical death metal, and thatâs what weâve got here. It does have a plethora of hook-filled elements for sure, the skittering opening riff being a prime example, but this is more a spectacular mental whirligig than a head-banger. All the performances are intricate, elaborate, and relentlessly fascinating â way too much to digest on a single listen. But I think whatâs likely to stick in your head after even a single listen are the guitar solos, which spiral out in glorious brilliance â and maybe the very surprising finale, which I wonât spoil.” â No Clean Singing
ââ¦a hectic black and death metal ride. With this band, itâs far more than just those two genres, the way they cross the chasm with their music is akin to the old style of jazz improv which to some says prog but to us itâs justâ¦massive.â â Nine Circles
“20 Buck Spin as a record label has been a consistently high-quality conduit for mind-bending heaviness and Threads of Unknowing is no exception to this, a wonderful collection of abyssal wonk… this is a great record if you like your death metal progressive, cosmic and idiosyncratic but also, belligerent, and pulverising.” â Echoes And Dust
âCombining the brutality of death metal, the buzzsaw savagery of black metal and wild or restrained flourishes of jazz experimentation, Threads Of Unknowing takes you on a journey beyond immediate comprehension and patiently waits for the human mind to catch up.â â Ghost Cult Magazine
“As far as the âold schoolâ progressive death metal fandom is concerned it will be a mighty showing of technique up front and a frothing mass beyond, a feat built upon spectacular arcs of page-scouring, pen whipping in-the-moment bloom of the psyche largely by way of rhythmic inspiration⦠One of the most entertaining and thus far enriching death metal records Iâve cracked into this year and surely one to blow a few minds, even those still reeling from their first records impressive showing. 92/100” â Grizzly Butts
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The post VOIDCEREMONY: Threads Of Unknowing LP Now Playing; Death Metal Act With Atramentus, Worm, Mournful Congregation, Ascended Dead Members Out Tomorrow On 20 Buck Spin first appeared on Earsplit Compound.
