Void Rot
Descending Pillars
por Sebastián Franco
Descending Pillars is an astonishing and chaotic monolith that works as the powerful manifesto of a young band with a crushing and overwhelming presence.
Coming in with a crushing debut, the North American death metal quartet, Void Rot engages in one of the most exploited genres in the heavy music realm; however, the band is able to deliver a record that successfully deviates from the most orthodox forms of that particular style by bringing different elements into the mix.
The Minneapolis-based unit manages to offer an album that, although it falls right into the familiar staples of death metal, shines through a performance that is raw, yet precise, as well as technical and violent. Void Rot create layers of sound that blur the line between black metal, irregular time signatures, and angular guitars riffs, expelling a dark range of sound that give off aggressiveness in the most brutal way possible.
In Descending Pillars, the band combines a large number of musical influences that are tied in good harmony with the moods that the project is trying to evoke. There are no random movements on this album; everything feels measured and meticulously arranged, which may overwhelm the listener, but the band never strays from the path they have been forging since the beginning, leaving an unnerving ominous feel.
Songs like “Liminal Forms” create an almost astral space, where the vocals accompany a very slow liturgy -cadaverous and unkind-, very akin to doom metal. It starts with a mantric quality, but it never compromises the latent aggressiveness that unfolds at every step; this also happens in the title track, which quickly prepares a thunderous and angry path. In a similar fashion, "Delusion Of Flesh" goes from layers of guitars to an oppressive pace, accompanied by a slow and tormented sensation which is very persisten throughout the whole album.
Descending Pillars is an astonishing and chaotic monolith that works as the powerful manifesto of a young band with a crushing and overwhelming presence, who have no qualms to take from different genres in order to build something different.
