EMPTINESS - Error CD
Dark Descent Records
Genre: Blackened Death / Doom
In all honesty this thing comes off sounding like the house band of R'lyeh with Cthulhu on vocals. That should be expected since this Belgium act contains Phorgath and Nerath Daemon of the great ENTHRONED (who also have a new release this year which I'll be getting soon enough). This is my introduction to EMPTINESS which has been around for quite a few years and has two previous full lengths. Error comes off of a five year hiatus for this side project since their 2007 release Oblivion. After listening to this I'll be purchasing their previous releases because music like this is what nightmares are made of. This is the type of blackened poison which will erode the minds of the weak. The band, which is Phorgath - bass & vocals, Nerath Daemon - lead guitar & backing vocals, Jonas Sanders - drums and Phil P. aka: Philippe Angelo Pieters on rhythm guitar, has created a musical malevolent entity of horrific proportions. Any clean spots left on your soul will be covered in black after you listen to this a few times.
Welcome to a realm of grotesque horror as the death doomish atmosphere envelopes you while being taunted by Phorgath's inhuman guttural proclamations. The eight tracks on here combine to leave the listener disoriented amidst chaotic melodies strung out through monstrous riffs and tremolo picked harmonies which ice your bones. This is far from being another old school retread or even an off-kilter version of ENTHRONED. Musically Error is far more experimental in that grandiose rhythms are slammed headlong into bombastic post rock riffs. That's the case with cuts like "Not Enough" and on "Worst". Hypnotically textured intro sequences flow like rain water into a culvert only to exit poisoned and with extreme currents like on "Low" and the opener "Deafer". In the end Error is as varied and disharmonious as the subterranean realm which spawned it. Whether that's literally or subconsciously is up to you to decide. I for one know that this is blackened death doom taken to it's most progressive as well as nightmarish level.
Rating: 5/5
Label: http://www.darkdescentrecords.com/
Official: http://www.emptiness.be/
