Existence:Void – “Anatman” (Nox Liberatio Records / Gruesome Records, 2021)

Now, allow me to say that I did not know about Existence:Void before being sent this promo. A shame, I know. Worse, taking a look at the members, and reading that one of them was once in Crystalline Darkness, without neglecting the remaining, gave me hope that this release had to be a top-notch one. No, it doesn't sound like C.D.; good that does not sound like C.D., resonating to something... with its own identity. 

The label associated with E:V is Avant-garde Black Metal, whatever it is (me and labels...), but it's quite interesting. This is not, as a rule, the Black Metal that captivates me, but there is something distinct, something unique to the national panorama, and even international. There is a visible display of technicality, but I perhaps accepted it for not being a “mastubatic display”, if you know what I mean, of skills. I tend to prefer music in its crudest and simple form, but these E:V are not exactly that. From violent moments to delicate details, these gentlemen traverse a whole spectrum of music, like few. There are approximations to Symphonic Black Metal from the 90s: perfectly executed, simple, exemplary placed... 

Are these gentlemen the true successors of Sirius? Warning: any reading that mentions a possible comparison between the two bands, is fallacy. These E:V own so much of their own, but comparations are inevitable, unfortunately. There is an interesting dichotomy: in moments it is the Past, in others it is the Future. Funny how they managed, in such a balanced way, to make this fusion of... Eras. 

What else? Go listen. Are you, like me, an "old person"? Then you will find points of contact with what made you fall in love with the genre, while showing us that it is not dead, and constantly mutating / evolving.

Gruesome Records Official Bandcamp - Existence:Void - "Anatman"

(this review was originally written for Metal Imperium)