VoidCeremony goes even deeper on their new album, Threads Of Unknowing.

California progressive death metal band VoidCeremony has always taken their music in exactly the direction they wanted it to go. Consider their publishing history as an example. Forming in 2013, they released three EPs in a row before recording their first full-length album in 2020. And then, two years later they released a demo. Unusual choices indeed compared to other bands, and it left fans wondering what would come next. To the surprise of almost everyone, the answer was a long-player the very next year, Threads Of Unknowing. The band is Garrett Johnson (Wandering Mind – vocals, guitar), Phil Tougas (Hyperborean Apparition – vocals, guitar), Damon Good (The Great Righteous Destroyer – bass), and Charlie Koryn (C.K. – drums).

The first track of six on the new album is “Threads of Unknowing (The Paradigm of Linearity),” a kind of get-to-know-you top-hat bow. It is a short piece with blistering prog guitar flourishes and rushing percussion, letting you know that, despite the gruff, growling vocals, this music is serious. There is a long fade-in for the second song, “Writhing in The Facade of Time.” It is like watching an approaching army slowly grow larger as the distance between them and you shrinks with their steady approach. The music is wild, untethered. At first it is very difficult to tell what is going on. Near the two-minute mark, a Zappa-esque guitar break enters and offers firm ground before the tectonic plates shift again. At the end the music drifts off into space. “Abyssic Knowledge Bequeathed” comes along next and, after the drubbing we’ve taken in the previous songs, we now feel at home in the apparent chaos.

“Entropic Reflections Continuum” begins the second triplet with a regularized riff – quite a surprise in the existing context. There is plenty of churning and fast moving shifts along the way, so this isn’t a massive change. It’s more of a sideward glance. “At The Periphery of Human Realms (The Immaterial Grave)” is a short bit, reflective and ethereal, that sets up the epic closer, “Forlorn Portrait: Ruins of an Ageless Slumber.” If you are writing an eleven minute song, chances are there will be a few movements, and there is a lot going on here, to be sure. Apart from the tempo changes and the creative dispersions, my favorite parts are when the guitar is in the lead. This is death metal leaning very heavily on the progressive side. If that sounds like what you want to hear, you are going to like this album. Recommended.

Threads Of Unknowing is out on April 14^th in digital, CD, cassette, and vinyl through 20 Buck Spin. Touch the links below.

Links.

Void Ceremony website, http://voidceremony.com/news.html

Bandcamp, https://listen.20buckspin.com/album/threads-of-unknowing

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/VoidCeremony/

20 Buck Spin, https://www.20buckspin.com/

© Wayne Edwards