It should go without saying that the world of black metal has seen numerous iterations of its original sound over the years. Be it taken in a direction with more melody, rawer in production, psychedelic in nature, experimental at heart, or bloodthirsty to the very core, black metal has become a multi-faced beast that is nothing to underestimate no matter what kind of fan you are as there is certainly something for everybody. In the wake of such innovation, that original sound can be quite attractive even if it is tweaked a bit. There’s nothing that can compare to a tried-and-true sound that is refreshed by the spirits of the young and feverous. With their first full-length album after a name change and an EP five years ago, Voidescent takes a big step forward in making themselves known as such an act that means nothing but business.

This is the kind of black metal that people think of whenever they envision black metal without any frills, without any fancy tweaking, and without anything other than that original black flame to drive the music forward into oblivion. In no small way, Voidescent has crafted a spectacular visage of what it means to make compelling, soul-corrupting black metal the likes of which blot out the very sun the moment the record begins to spin with every given minute of “Dust and Embers” certainly living up to its name. Occult to the very core and a blistering performance that never wastes a single one of its opportunities to put forth a truly vicious and unrelenting display of power the likes of which only well-tempered, focused black metal can summon forth, it boggles the mind to think that this is but the first full-length album from Voidescent. Even ignoring the fact that Voidescent operated under a different name for over a decade and only one other piece of material to its name, “Dust and Embers” is a magnificently bold creation that exudes unforgiving power in every instance with the fires of Hell itself not enough to give us an idea as to the intensity that Voidescent commands with impunity. Pile all of that onto a devilish sense of melody that works its way into the dense dissonance somehow, “Dust and Embers” quickly becomes a monolithic beast in its own right with that not having one shred of overstating to be had in sight.

There shouldn’t be any question as to both the density and the quality of modern black metal be it as a whole or analyzing each vein for what each is worth. Even with this being but the tip of the iceberg of what Voidescent is surely capable of, “Dust and Embers” puts on a ferociously impressive display that shows off the band’s power, evolution, and supreme darkness that can only promise bigger and better blaspheming in the future for Voidescent should they simply grab ahold of it.

“Dust and Embers” releases on October 13th via Avantgarde Music!

LISTEN to advanced tracks from “Dust and Embers” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Voidescent on Facebook here.