As extreme metal has splintered beyond its basic building blocks into ever more obscure shapes and mutations, we’ve seen all manner of dubiously named subgenres appearing across its rugged landscape, but this demo from the mysterious Vøid Wørship is surely the first recorded example of what the band term ‘funeral grind’, a description you certainly don’t see every day.
Whilst their sound has more in common with a bleak fusion of doom and death metal (with the faintest whiff of black metal) than it does, say, Discordance Axis, this description is still fairly apt in that a lot of this would be pretty damn grindin’ if played at faster tempos. Opener ‘No Sacred Life’, for instance, almost sounds like grindcore in its dying hour, all of its bodily functions and processes slowing to a painful close before it draws its final breath. That’s not to say that this is predominately slow paced however, the crushing ‘Tie Sailor’s Knots With Serpents’ features a punishing parade of blastbeats and gnarly tremolo riffs in its midsection before crawling back into an ominous dirge, and closer ‘To Count The Ribs Of Dogs’ is an absolute belter, bringing to mind the desolate death metal stylings of post-Emperor project Zyklon, only on an even more forlorn and hopeless trip.
The sound is full and crisp, with the interesting bass lines being fully audible amidst the thick guitar tone, and the vocals are deep and guttural, ringing out through the chaos in style. There are some great uses of discordant melodies and weird, angular riffs at play here, and there’s definitely a very bleak, dystopian atmosphere permeating this release, yet it’s surprisingly polished and streamlined for the most part. For a demo, this is an extremely promising start, and in all honestly a highly satisfying listening experience in its own right. The band have a fairly original sound, and although it seems like they may not have fully grown into it just yet, it’s already pretty impressive – these guys sound extremely confident considering these are the first four sonic rituals they’ve offered up to the world. It should be pretty interesting watching Vøid Wørship grow, and this release is well worth checking out, regardless of how seriously you’re willing to take that ‘funeral grind’ tag…
