You can always rely on I, Voidhanger to unleash some of the darkest, terrifying musical assaults that you will ever bear witness to, as Dutch blackened death metallers Defacement release their sophomore. Songs on their debut were relatively short compared to the monstrous incarnations they constructed for this album. Essentially this is four colossal tracks spliced by four intros/interludes titled ‘Limbo’ with Roman numeral suffixes, as ‘Limbo I’ opens the album with two minutes of sinister exploration. The eerie start offered by the intro, perfectly exemplifies the utter horror that is to be spewed forth when ‘Shattered’ blasts in with callous ruthlessness. Their war metal onslaught is comparable to the Antediluvian album I’ve reviewed recently for the site, its incomparable inhumanity is backed by the wrathful drum work which borders pandemonium, and the outright inhuman vocal style that listens like another bass layer on the album.
‘Limbo II’ fragments the merciless barrage by switching to serene ambient noises for less than a minute before ‘Disavowed’ rather casually breathes its toxic breath into you. Being much slower the song has a repugnance flowing through it initially before the pulverising speed bursts through. Again, those vocals add their own layer of terror, grisly and gruesome but packed with emotive power they just add another level of horror to the song. The blackened aspects are far more evident here, as the riffing sees it pick up a notch in tone but still bolstered by the low rhythm section that pervades the release.
Ambient and unnerving, interlude three, ‘Limbo III’ sections the album again before the ten-minute gargantuan of ‘Disenchanted’ is unveiled. Here there’s no slow streamlining to wean you into the track, instead it batters the hell out of you from the start, offering peripheral drum segues that punctuate the tracks incessant velocity. Like the whole release the song is awash with a threatening atmosphere, especially when it slows down to that slithering grotesque crawl this genre does so well. With the periodic blast phases the song ensures you are exposed to its barbaric speed, as the hooks and melodies float along the with tyrannical bombardment.
As before, another, but final, interlude, ‘Limbo IV’, is unfurled that effectively segments the albums extreme metal tracks, as ‘Wounded’ closes the release in fine fashion. Just when you thought the album couldn’t get any faster or more horrific, ‘Wounded’ is a blurring tornado of riffs and drumming annihilation. There are moments in this track where the listener is submerged in an obnoxious filth you could asphyxiate on. Its cavernous affront with unmitigated violence is backed by subtle guitar hooks that they do so well. The ceaseless speed hurtles the song into realms of despairing terror, rarely braking except for brief drum fill sequences until the abrupt pause sends you reeling to catch your breath. Almost like one of the albums interludes this slice of ambience severs the song brilliantly, before returning gradual escalation in intensity, as the finale of the song is immersed with atmospherics until the last 90 seconds of battering freneticism.
A discordant, dissonant, demolition from Defacement, an album engulfed in metastasising sonic horror that fans of this genre should pick up without hesitation.
(8.5/10 Martin Harris)
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