vote
6.0
- Band:
Cancer Void - Duration: 00:21:00
- Available since: 01/08/2025
- Label:
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Iron Fortress Records
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Me Saco an ojo records
In the already crowded universe of the “Modern Old School” Death Metal, the Czechs Cancer VOID make their entrance with the EP “First Metastasis”. Coming from Prague, the five musicians firmly fit into a vein that, although widely explored, continues to attract new levers and faithful public. The joint support of two very respected labels in the underground, like me, Saco an Ojo and Iron Fortress, immediately testifies to a certain credit earned even before the publication.
The artwork is treated and well adherent to the imagination of the genre, in particular for those grotesque details that wink at the aesthetics of a certain Finnish school. At the sound level, “First Metastasis” presents itself as a concentrate of compact death metal, with rather varied dynamics. Cancer Void seem to consciously try to avoid monotony, alternating Groovy passages with faster outbursts, without forgetting some atmospheric interlude that contributes to building an almost dreamlike climate in certain situations.
Among the songs, “Encased in Veins” and “Cosmic Caverns of Exingration” stand out clearly, two tracks that condense well the spirit of the project: inspired riffs, well -dosed time changes, a certain taste for the hook that, even without slipping into the clearer melody, manages to fix itself in memory, also thanks to the precise intervention of the solo guitar. In these compositions, in some restarts, even a vaguely Thrash soul, which gives greater bite and immediacy, also emerges. The work of the guitars, in particular, is therefore more articulated and dynamic, avoiding to lay on too bare solutions.
A pity that the rest of the mini does not remain on this level: the other songs are in fact less incisive, prisoners of formulas all in all dozen, unable to generate who knows what impact. Here Riffing becomes more school, and the alternation of slow and accelerated sections, although performed in order, is not enough to distinguish the pieces in the magmatic sea of contemporary death metal. It is in these moments that the listener risks losing the thread, sliding in a distracted use. At the end of the accounts, this genre should live on riff, and if on this front it does not shine much, in the long run it is difficult to emerge.
Having said that, the vaid cancers appear motivated, competent and already rather attentive to the shape: cared for sounds, calibrated arrangements, structure of the songs designed to avoid stagnation. What is missing for now is a more clear vision, but also more constancy in riffing; Elements that allow them to really stand out from the many colleagues who move on the same ground.
The comparison with the compatriots Sněťť is not out of place: even the vaid cancers seem to want to reinterpret certain codes of old -fashioned metal metal with lively attitude, while remaining faithful to a very precise basic aesthetic. Time will say if they know how to establish themselves as a recognizable voice of the genre or if they remain a name among many. For now, “First Metastasis” is a first honest step, which suggests some spirals of evolution.
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
