EP REVIEW: Call Of The Void – Evulse

Oakland, California boasts one of the best and most eclectic metal scenes in the US, with bands such as HIGH ON FIRE, NEUROSIS and GHOUL calling this city home and leaving an indelible impression on the wider metal landscape. As can be expected, there’s a thriving extreme metal scene in the city, with a plethora of world class musicians carving out a name for themselves in the underground. EVULSE brings together members of SWAMP WITCH, AUGURS and MORTUOUS, all great bands in their own right, to create some vile and aggressive death metal. Their debut EP, Call Of The Void is a short, sharp shock of vicious and caustic death metal that is sure to grab the interest of any die hard fan of the genre.

Call Of The Void‘s opening gambit, Hypochondria, starts as the record means to go on; it’s a full throttle aural assault that charges out of the speakers in a sea of buzz saw guitars, energetic, frenetic drumming and utterly dense and disgusting gutturals, which, when coupled with a raw production, ends up resulting in a straight up, brutal slab of sepulchral death metal that commands your attention. There’s a solid, thick groove in the guitars, which adds a ton of weight to the sound, turning what is already a feral and rabid piece of music into an oppressive, punishing offering. It doesn’t stick around, clocking in at just shy of two minutes, but it certainly leaves a lasting impression.

Following on from Hypochondria, Hideous Mound takes up the mantle that the first track laid the foundations for, and builds upon it, offering an end product that is a razor sharp, grating wall of noise, pummelling the listener right off the bat. EVULSE manage to fill this song with plenty of visceral aggression, making more of a sonic impact in just over a minute and a half than many bands would struggle to conjure up in ten. The guitars again possess that crushing, crunchy tone and a frenzied approach, which complements the thunderous quality of the drums and the tar-thick, throbbing bass line that underpins this song extremely well. The vocals really come into their own, and range from the sort of bowel-loosening, heavy gutturals that marked the last song and macabre, hellish screams, which match the urgency and violence of the music perfectly. It’s another brilliant track that further cements EVULSE‘s vicious and caustic sound.

Then we come to the records third, and longest, track: the titular Call Of The Void. Where the first two songs seek to knock the listeners head clean off with their intensity, this song opts to go for a dark and foreboding atmosphere, with more mid-paced, restrained guitar parts which utilise a lighter tone to create a bleak, haunting sound. Backed up by robust rhythmic guitars and liberally peppered with thick, monstrous melodies, it’s a slow burner that gains momentum as it progresses, finally quickening the pace and developing a far more noticeable power around the halfway mark. The vocals, although only used sparingly, have a great effect when they come into the equation, with punishing guttural passages being the dense, disgusting glue that ties all the music together. It’s the crowning jewel of this EP, and showcases EVULSE‘s ability as songwriters and musicians, injecting plenty of variety into its near four minute span.

The penultimate Agoraphobia reverts back to the tried and tested sound that characterised Call Of The Void‘s opening tracks, with raw and acerbic music and production coming together and giving the listener one last taste of EVULSE‘s trademark, low-fi death metal sound. At various points, the cacophony of the music is so great, that the various elements on the song practically merge together, something that gives this particular song a primal and primitive aspect which is fantastic to behold. With a solid, punky drum beat providing a solid base, the tight, precision focused speed of the guitars and the booming roar of the vocals set to work crafting a sound that is as unrelentingly dark as it is claustrophobic, meaning that although this isn’t quite the best track on the record, it is without a shadow of a doubt the most aggressive and powerful. It’s a great way to end an equally amazing EP.

Call Of The Void is a brief, yet brilliant, EP. With a running time of just under ten minutes, it manages to make the most of each and every second, ensuring that there’s not a single dull moment on here. EVULSE clearly have one foot firmly rooted in the old school sound, in particular the sort of treble heavy, fuzzy sound that marks the Swedish sound, and at points is reminiscent of bands like ENTOMBED, VALLENFYRE and ENTRAILS at their best. Not only is the music excellent, the sound is too; the production is just about dirty and grimy enough to win the heart of any die hard fan of underground music, and yet it still manages to sound crisp and sharp, ensuring that the production doesn’t drive anyone away. It’s fantastic from the first note to the last, and it will be interesting to see how EVULSE surpass this EP.

Rating: 9/10

Call Of The Void is out now via Godz Ov War Productions/Transylvanian Tapes. 

Like EVULSE on Facebook.