DEAD VOID – Cranial Devastation

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7.0

• Bands:
  DEAD VOID
• Duration: 00:34:28
• Available from: 06/06/2026
• Label:

• Me Saco Un Ojo Records

Four years of hiding from the scene do not seem to have particularly affected the haughty effigy of the Danish Dead Void, who, just like for the debut “Volatile Forms”, return to publication supported by the crossfire of Dark Descent and Me Saco Un Ojo Records for the new work “Cranial Devastation”, a rather eloquent title regarding the malevolent intentions released by the suffocating coils of death-doom carefully crafted for the occasion. The band's line-up sees the defection of D on bass, promptly replaced in his role by the double commitment of the two remaining members, the multi-instrumentalists A and K, who also jointly take care of the vocal sector, probably divided between growling vocals and rather frequent screaming interventions.

As mentioned, the Scandinavian duo takes its steps in rather muddy and heavy territories, equipped with a particularly dense and almost impenetrable sound paste, certainly in line with what was appreciated on their debut from a few years ago. The doom and funereal substratum that serves as the basis for Dead Void's pachydermal steps is often shaken by faster and more raucous death metal incursions, which, without exaggerating in speed, allow us to give an important dynamism to the songs and make the successions of riffs to which we are subjected in the five movements that make up the platter rather unpredictable. If at first listening, it would be enough to cite the Autopsy of the golden period to fully convey the stylistic idea of ​​”Cranial Devastation”, over time you realize that the work manages to live a life of its own by virtue of rather recognizable ideas that univocally punctuate one piece from another, and allow you to follow the thread of the discussion with a certain degree of interest and involvement.

“Regurgitation Of Ancient Manifestations” is keen to briefly present all the aforementioned elements interpreted by Dead Void, starting from the first interminable bars until evolving into increasingly more stringent transfigurations, in a crescendo that continues to gain intensity with “Isolation's Hold”, undoubtedly containing the fastest (relatively) scores of the pure death metal album. “Phantosmial Stench Of Decay”, on the other hand, after the breaks and long suffocating pauses of the incipit, makes intelligent use of the double pedal and palm muting riffing to make a pounding sensation of discomfort tangible, before breaking into the swampy bubbling atmospheres of the title track, a long central episode that risks remaining bogged down in boredom due to some less brilliant and more predictable solution. The closing entrusted to “Jeg Kan Ikke Flygte Fra Mig Selv” is saved in the corner, which after an infinite first introductory riff, comes alive at the end for some of the liveliest bars presented by this album.

Unfortunately there is no trace of the slightly experimental instances presented by “Volatile Forms” this time, according to a more direct and feral intention which however lacks a further element to be able to delve deeper into the duo's compositional formula. The workmanship of the songs on “Cranial Devastation” therefore certainly remains valuable, but lacks the artist's brilliant spark that could elevate the work from a simple proposition of well-interpreted stylistic features, but certainly already heard in dozens of other records in the sector.