I’m late reviewing this. Apologies. It somehow got drowned in the background noise of these tumultuous times. But luckily the editor keeps track of everything and gave me a nudge, so here we are.
Over the Voids… (no, that’s not me pondering the band name; the band name contains the three dots) is a one-man project from Poland. The solo entertainer behind it is The Fall, playing all instruments. Although you might not be familiar with that moniker, it’s still possible that you have seen him perform live. Apart from being a member in Medico Peste, The Fall takes over bass duties when Mgla play live. I, for one, had no idea. And I spent Mgla’s whole show in Zagreb standing right in front of the bassist. But then, they do play with their faces covered, so I might be excused.
Over the Voids… released a debut album three years ago, in 2017. According to the band’s bandcamp page, the aim was to revive mid-nineties black metal while adding a personal note to the sound, transcending it thereby. Well, I’d say that’s something each and every black metal band active today has been and is trying to do. Anyway, the debut was received favourably. We also reviewed it here.
Hadal, the album at hand, is the project’s sophomore release. It is named after the hadal zone, which is to be found in the deepest regions of the Earth’s oceans. But apart from being featured in the album title, the subject is not explored any further, as far as I can tell. The song titles don’t reference it and appear to be, in general, unrelated to each other and somewhat arbitrary. Or can you think of a connection between Corridors inside a glacier and Witchfuck? I’m also not sure how the black-and-white album cover featuring a photograph of the insides of a cave including stalactites relates to all of the above.
Hadal starts out with The Pillar, a quiet, melancholy track with acoustic guitar and clean vocals. The sing-song nature of the vocal performance reminds one of a priest holding mass, the added echo effect conjures up a cavernous setting. The promising beginning is somewhat undone by the second track, One commandment, which takes us into very familiar black metal territory with melodic, tremolo picked guitars and fast drumming. The vocals switch to guttural, but stay in the forefront, with lyrics well audible most of the time. In the great war of nothing continues in the same manner.
Once you have reached the middle of the album you will realize that the song writing is somewhat formulaic, that no big surprises await you anymore. The blurb promises “a masterful balance between atmosphere and aggression”, but the nine tracks, summing up to roughly forty minutes playtime, do not really fulfil that promise. The performance, especially considering that all instruments are played by one man, is masterful indeed. There are numerous excellent, melodic tremolo picked guitar passages. The song writing as a whole, however, and with it the album, lack an edge, something that goes beyond masterful performance. There is also no audible progression. Apart from beginning and end, the album runs around in circles.
Hadal ends with Thin ice, an instrumental track, similar to the way it began, quiet and melancholy.
To sum up: Over The Voids… second album is a solid listen, with outstanding passages, but lacking an edge, something that would provide memorability, something that would lift it above the multitude of similar sounding releases.
(6.5/10 Slavica)
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