UMUR
"Volatile Forms" is the debut full-length studio album by Danish death/doom metal act Dead Void. The album was released through Me Saco un Ojo Records in September 2022. Dead Void have released three demos before being signed for the release of "Volatile Forms" (two rehearsal demos and one studio demo). While the band was formed and is situated in Copenhagen, Denmark, the three members (who go by the stage names D, A, and K) are actually from the UK and Norway.
The "The Looming Spectre" demo from January 2018 (the band´s only studio demo, although it was actually mostly recorded live in the studio) was a very interesting death/doom metal demo, featuring a brutal, slow, heavy, and raw sounding death/doom metal sound. The songwriting was creative, the performances strong, and the sound production perfect for the material. A high quality demo through and through. The "Cranial Demonstration" rehearsal demo followed in August 2021, and while it´s a much more unpolished, murky, and savage release, that demo also showed some great promise.
That promise has certainly been carried over to "Volatile Forms" which also features a varied, heavy, doomy, raw, and also pretty aggressive death/doom metal style. Sometimes leaning towards the ultra slow pace of funeral doom, but just as often featuring mid-paced and even faster paced old school death metal sections. The growling vocals range from abysmal deep, to slightly higher pitched and aggressive. It´s great to hear heavy music which is this aggressive. Sometimes slow paces and doom metal in general take the aggression out of music, but that´s not the case here, and "Volatile Forms" is overall a pretty mean sounding release (yeah I often get the urge to smash things while listening to it, and that´s always a good indication that a band is doing something right).
The album features 5 relatively long tracks and a total playing time of 43:59 minutes. Some would probably call the songwriting patchy, but it´s exactly this type of unorthodox and adventurous songwriting which makes "Volatile Forms" such an interesting release. You never quite know what´s lurking behind the next break or tempo change. Well...it´s not melody I can tell you that. While some sections are atmospheric the music never becomes melodic or easily accessible. There´s a crushing darkness to the proceedings that few artists are able to deliver as convincing as Dead Void do.
I praised the savage sounding production job of "The Looming Spectre" demo, but Dead Void have upped their game in that department too on "Volatile Forms". This is still an incredibly raw sounding release, but even more details and nuances are now heard in the mix, and it´s a sound production which is perfectly suited for the material. This pretty much blows me away and a 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.