Album Review: Gutvoid – Liminal Shrines
Reviewed by Sam Jones
Often there are bands you’re somewhat familiar morose to check out at a future date, that band for me is Canada’s Gutvoid and with their upcoming release, Liminal Shrines, it’s at last my opportunity to weigh in on their quality. Formed in 2019 out of the city of Toronto, Gutvoid fuse fantasy with science fiction creating an especially Lovecraftian soundscape present throughout the vast majority of their work. With a number of Singles, an EP and a Split under their belt the band were ready to unleash their debut album come 2022: Durance Of Lightless Horizons. Two years ago Gutvoid released their second EP, Breathing Obelisk, and another two years on the band are ready for their second full length to see the light. Liminal Shrines is due out March 20th through Profound Lore Records, sporting some exemplary artwork by the divinely gifted Kjell Åge Meland that instantly grasped my attention. I was eager to dive in and here Liminal Shrines served as introduction to their realm.
Whilst the band’s assault is steeped with malevolence, their riffs and general soundscape herein exhibit a far lighter tone than many will expect. Listen keenly to their guitar work and you’ll discover riffs and licks sporting such little mass it’ll hardly weigh on your senses. But that levity enables us to delve deeper into Gutvoid’s performance without anything barring us doing so. It needs reminding however, Gutvoid are here providing death metal to their fullest mean and when the aggression comes forth its present in droves, especially as the vocals roll in, delivering needed ferocity and elevating the band’s strength. Further listening will lead us to the band’s preferred choice of riff; their songwriting is awash with cerebral guitar playing, nigh on progressive, raised above vocals and drums to pierce the macabre din, where guitar work refuses to be categorised and pinned down to a singular approach.
I really liked the tempo Gutvoid apply here as whilst they can suddenly explode with heightened power per the songwriting, the bulk of their performance finds their instrumentation hardly flaunting faster tempos. Clearly they believe that whilst they can play at speed it’s not their constant prerogative, for the steady tempo results in a steadier pace and thus alleviates audiences from having to race alongside the band at all times. It blesses us with the capacity to behold all the band have to offer without rushing yourselves in discerning what is occurring. With only a handful of tracks it assures each one is given special status, increasing the likelihood each is fondly remembered, encouraging the audience to return to Liminal Shrines once again.
To a degree Liminal Shrines details the horrific consequences of bathing oneself in a plethora of light. This is particularly atypical of death metal wherein this style of metal indulges in the breadth of darkness; Gutvoid however have taken this idea and applied to the oversaturation of light. The cover art aids this notion too. In addition, the songwriting, bolstering this cerebral style of riff, hardly stands still and rarely elicits the conventional, blocky form of riff death metal is synonymous with. One receives the idea that to be blinded is of course a travesty, but to be so enveloped by that blinding power would be a sentence beyond the despair of death. Many of the riffs and their accompanying licks are climbing skyward, harbouring sonic connotations of holy and righteous devastation.
Considering the record is nearly fifty minutes long it speaks volumes regarding Liminal Shrines’ structure when the closing two tracks encompass nearly half the whole runtime. The bulk of the preceding tracks are each a few minutes long but suddenly the record is weighted towards the end; however I’d argue that if the audience has zero qualms over what they’ve heard up to this point then they know they’re in capable hands as the band prepare to close out their record in enormous scope. Half this reason is because there’s no point where a track slow down, even when the riffs subside momentarily. The drums are always playing away whether through the snare or double bass beats of varying intensity, perhaps the vocals through their snarling animalism are altering their cadence so the vocal flow never grows stale. But once a track starts there is no singular point where the songwriting lets up until its time elapses, but owing to the lighter tone their guitars possess you can going through that unending foray without feeling persistence becomes punishment.
In conclusion, Liminal Shrines is this peculiar record where everything is familiar and easy to follow along to yet simultaneously offering a challenging listen that, through applied songwriting, conveys an enormous amount of information without impeding our ability to process their performance. Often do the band scrape the sky yet is never detrimental to them for you know their feet are all strongly planted to the earth; had this not been the case then Gutvoid would have found conveying their sound across to us profoundly harder. But at fifty minutes I never felt a second was used haphazardly, every moment a track played was for a purpose and even their lengthy pieces justified their longevity. Gutvoid approach death metal in an inverted manner but that doesn’t negate their capacity for wanton mayhem; it’s simply been perverted, reshaped and recontextualised for the band’s desires. A heinous and light enamouring force.
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