Ectovoid “In Unreality’s Coffin”

    The swirling and sonically devastating chaos from Ectovoid’s new album transports you into a nightmare world where you become completely overwhelmed by the unfathomable amounts of hideous brutality. Titled, “In Unreality’ Coffin,” the album is the band’s third full-length album to date with the last full-length album having been released in 2015. Even after some years of being dormant, the band reemerges with a confidently decimating extreme sounding creation. 

    when I first saw the promo and announcement for the upcoming album from Everlasting Spew Records, I thought the name Ectovoid sounded very familiar. Sure enough, I had reviewed a split that they had been a part of called, “4 Doors to Death," which came out in 2016 through Unspeakable Axe Records. I do remember the tracks that they contributed to the split were insanely savage offerings of sinister old school sounding death metal, so seeing them return with a full-length album goes to show how these musicians are still driven to unleash some catastrophic death metal upon the metal world. 

    “In Unreality’s Coffin,” is a proudly vicious and unfathomably deafening release from the very start until the gory end. Once this band gets locked in and starts laying down some juggernaut sized death metal riffs and pulverizing rhythms, the music comes rushing at you like an unspeakably grotesque entity from beyond looking to violently rip you apart. The album’s opening track, “Dissonance Corporeum,” starts with a bone crushing guitar riff followed-up by some bombastic drum parts to eventually welcome the utterly horrendous vocals. I knew right away that these musicians did not lose a step and have continued to craft a solid old school sound that does not fail to deliver a mighty dose of sadistic brutality. The singer’s growls hauntingly echo over the cataclysmic compositions to paint hellish landscape in the listener's mind.  

    The album’s second track, “Collapsing Spiritual Nebula," definitely invokes that soul crushing 90’s death metal sound and even conveys a savage Swedish death metal vibe at times. Throughout the song the band’s drummer unleashes a flurry of punishing beats to go along with the insidious sounding guitar work. One the third track, “Intrusive Illusions (Echoes from a Distant Planet),” the band does not deviate much from the first two songs and I would say that they maintain a consistent level of malevolence in terms of fiendish creativity. 

    Towards the middle of the album songs like, “Formless Seeking Form,” and “Irradiated Self,” feature even more abhorrently distorted aggression. The bass playing on, “Formless Seeking Form,” was extremely explosive sounding and reminded me of early Pestilence release where the bass injects an extra burst of low end hostility. Also, the band’s vocalist has one of the most vile sounding death growls around which I think is easily one of the album's strengths. 

    One track off of the album that really caught me by surprise was the instrumental track, “It is Without Shape.” During the track the band incorporates these cosmic atmospheric like touches as well as this extremely catchy and almost hypnotic sounding main guitar riff. For the last song on the album, “In Anguished Levitation,” I thought that the band added some more dynamic sounding arrangements and even slowed the tempo down at times to vividly emphasize certain riff sections. In terms of the production and how the riffs sounded throughout the album sounded, I do not believe fans will be disappointment because the music utterly destroys with a profane old school death metal edge. 

    In the end, Ectovoid maliciously tears through the starless void with the release of, “In Unreality’s Coffin,” to spread forth a sickening sound that pays homage to the mighty old school death metal masters, but also does not end up becoming yet another generic worship band to forget about after hearing just two songs. From the way the guitars and drums were recorded to how well the vocals came across over the mix, the band seemed extremely locked in when recording this album. I just hope we don’t have to wait another 10 years for them to record a follow-up album, because when a band has this level of inhumanely brutal talent, you really want them to keep the hammering out more cuts of death metal carnage. 

Check out the track "Collapsing Spiritual Nebula" below:

Link to where you can order the album from Everlasting Spew Records (Album comes out January 9th, 2026): 

https://everlastingspew.bandcamp.com/album/in-unrealitys-coffin 

Void Rot “Telluric Dismemberment”

    A couple years ago Void Rot released their monstrous sounding debut full-length album, “Descending Pillars,” which was well received by the extreme metal community. Fast forward to now and Void Rot is back with a brand new EP titled, “Telluric Dismemberment.” The new EP features a brand new track, a killer Amorphis cover and three live tracks that were recorded as part of an exclusive CVLT Nation show. 

    This Minnesota based death doom outfit really impressed me with their debut album, “Descending Pillars,” because I honestly could not believe the monumental destructive force that this band was capable of conjuring up in regards to their compositions. From the bludgeoning drum parts, to the cataclysmic sounding riffs, this band means business and never seems to compromise when pertaining to their abhorrent extreme metal vision. 

    The brand new track, “Telluric Dismemberment,” is a juggernaut of savage sounding torment that conveys a merciless death doom mindset. Anytime the guitarist hits a chord, you feel the hellacious force come bursting out of your speakers along with the singer’s inhuman vocals. The entire composition brings together a plethora of deafening influences, yet I really like how Void Rot never falls victim to the generic old school death metal worship approach. This band is not reinventing the extreme music wheel by any means, but they sure as hell are leaving an impact when you listen to their music. 

    Also, I thought that the band’s decision to cover, “Black Embrace,” by Amorphis was a great choice and definitely makes since given how Void Rot at times reminds me of Amorphis. Although, I will say that Void Rot was able to make the song sound even darker than the original and the recording was very raw sounding. The three live tracks are also very impressive and it gives listeners the opportunity to hear how this band is able to perform live. “Descending Pillars,” “Liminal Forms,” and “Inversion,” are three solid choices, but I would say that my favorite out of the three is, “Descending Pillars.” During the live version of, “Descending Pillars,” you just feel overwhelmed by the drummers bombastic and aggressive style of playing that adds such fearsome energy to the overall apocalyptic sound.  

    Working with Everlasting Spew Records, Void Rot looks to be releasing this EP on July 22nd, so make sure to order yourself a copy. Also, the band will be going on tour in Europe with label mates, Burial, which is great for all those European fans (Hoping a US tour is maybe in the works as well). Anyway, I am glad to hear that Void Rot is continuing to record and release more malevolent skull crushing extreme metal music, and I really hope when they have time that they can record another full-length. If you thought the first album was inhumanely brutal, then just wait for what they might do on the next album!

Check out the song “Telluric Dismemberment” below: 

Everlasting Spew Bandcamp:

https://everlastingspewrecords.bandcamp.com/album/telluric-dismemberment

Voit Rot Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/voidrot/

Void Rot "Descending Pillars"

    Void Rot’s debut full-length album, “Descending Pillars,” is an abysmal vision into a world of bludgeoning death metal shrouded in a blanket of unfathomable darkness. The unforgiving nature of this album is extremely impressive, along with the haunting atmospheric elements woven into the explosive instrumental carnage. 

    Hailing from Minneapolis, MN, Void Rot sets out to unleash devastation upon the metal world with their first full-length release. Their colossal sounding mixture of old school primitive death metal and bone chilling doom is what makes this album a rather unique and fascinating listening experience. Void Rot definitely proves to be a band that does not slap together generically written songs, because when you listen to the entire album you hear a vicious synergy and the music seamlessly transitions between each song.  

    The opening song, “Descending Pillars,” builds up this monumental dominion full of fearsome sounding riffs and grotesque death growls. Each instrument delivers a devastating blow to the overall musical landscape, thus creating an apocalyptic wasteland of horrifying death doom. On the next two tracks, “Upheaval” and “Liminal Forms,” the band keeps painting this bleak and lightless sounding realm where the drums and guitar parts become almost hypnotic as the music evolves. You actually feel possessed by the sheer brutality of all the instruments, as well as the hellish sounding vocals. 

    I feel that the second half of the album actually sounded more catastrophic at times and the band’s dynamic mindset really stood out. The best example would be the track, “The Weight of a Thousand Suns,” which is a short instrumental piece that lulls you through this calming hypnotic atmosphere. Eventually as the composition ends the band unleashes a cosmic explosion of vitriolic aggression, which then takes you into the final song off of the album. “Monolith (Descending Pillars Pt. II),” finishes the album up with a harrowing atmosphere of unfathomable death doom. The song is arguably one of the strongest sounding conclusions to an album I have heard this year. 

    Void Rot proves to be a band that does not wish to waste an opportunity when recording a monstrous sounding album. “Descending Pillars,” is going to come crashing down upon the metal community like a landslide of unspeakable destruction. Again, these musicians understood how to write an album from start to finish, because once you hear the first song, there is no escaping the hellacious sounding void that begins to surround you as the album progresses. Escape shall be futile once the pillars Void Rot has constructed begin to descend upon you ears! 

Check out the song "Descending Pillars" below. Also, album comes out September 11th and can be purchased through Sentient Ruin and Everlasting Spew (Links below video) :

Void Rot Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/voidrot

Everlasting Spew Bandcamp:

https://everlastingspewrecords.bandcamp.com/

Sentient Ruin Bandcamp:

https://sentientruin.bandcamp.com/