Judging from the cover art painting of the deep blue horizon submerging a forlorn shrine, one is likely to presume that he has stumbled across a cavernous death metal band, but you are likely wrong to make such an assumption. Portuguese black/death metal act Vøidwomb unravels the influences from the ancient Mesopotamian realm on their EP ‘Altars of Cosmic Devotion‘ released via Iron Bonehead Productions on February 19th, 2021. The four tracks plus one intro bring into play an obscure mélange of primeval death and black metal. The music immediately plunges into the Sumerian mythology, unraveling the ostensible combination of demonic growls by showing the primitive influences of blackened metal. ‘Altars of Cosmic Devotion‘ accentuates the well-crafted riffs and this certainly defines the songwriting composition of the Portuguese quintet.  

Despite the fact that Vøidwomb may sound close in style to modern death/doom bands, ‘Summon of Utu-Shamash‘ builds up towards a rapid-fire pace of blast beats. Riffs are tight and potently brutal, containing some prominent hooks from the rhythm guitars. Guitarists Lord and Fractal provide dense riffs and a cavernous atmosphere akin to doom metal. The vocals of M.S.Vøid are seamlessly brutal and improvise fiendish black metal snarls. As the songs begin to unfold, Vøidwomb makes use of many elements that come to the surface. For example, ‘Descent to Ersetu‘ is a concept track built on the themes of the Mesopotamian underworld. The element of female choral and the dense guitars are added to the mix. The songs on the EP have an average time length of three to four minutes.

From the organic drums and the dual vocal attacks the focus shifts to straightforward blast beats. In one moment drummer Noctvs intermingles both the upbeat tempos and the double bass. However, the Portuguese quintet delivers strong performance throughout the duration of eighteen minutes. Conveying the old school brutality of the U.S. and Latin American style of death metal, the heavy pounding of the drums on ‘Architects of World Demise‘ moves through fast tempos. Riffs and vocals accompany the ceaseless blast beats with the turbulent bass guitar buzzing of F.S providing oomph. As much as the band relies on the outflow of the riffs, the accentuation of creating an atmosphere is reciprocal.    

The dual guitars set up an obscure atmosphere and provide plenty of tremolo-picked-riffs. The role of the vocals in adding textural vocalization gives the songs their characteristic sound. ‘Altars of Cosmic Devotion‘ treads heavily on the old school foundations of Brazilian blackened death metal. Initiating with a fast tempo the heavy guitar reverb and the pounding drums are performed with ferocity. The transitions are always predictable and you can just expect the torrential blast beats to be unleashed from the wicked tone of the vocals. 

‘Altars of Cosmic Devotion‘ possesses some impressive qualities from these Portuguese lads. The strength of the songs lies in the riffing structure and fundamental aspects of old-school blackened death metal. Recommended for fans of early Deicide, Mystifier and Mortem.   

Release Date: February 19th, 2021
Label: Iron Bonehead Productions
Track list:

1. Intro
2. Summon of Utu-Shamash
3. Descent to Ersetu
4. Architects of the World Demise
5. Altars of Cosmic Devotion