Supreme Void – Towards Oblivion Review

By Owlswald

Relative newcomers Supreme Void began their journey as Depravity in 2016, releasing a couple of EPs over a five-year period, culminating with 2021’s End of Games. The EP delivered a familiar slab of Polish death metal, packed with the aggression, technicality, and power that flagbearers like Behemoth and Hate have long championed. Presumably realizing the existence of numerous other bands named Depravity, the trio changed their name to Supreme Void in 2023, coinciding with their signing to French label Dolorem Records, who then re-released End of Games under the new moniker. Now, Supreme Void’s debut full-length, Towards Oblivion, aims to fuse the brutal, fast and specialized Polish sound with the dissonant and stylish tendencies of the likes of Ulcerate and Gorguts—a conceptually intriguing and ambitious endeavor that tests Supreme Void’s ability to carve out their own niche within a formidable death metal landscape.

Like a murkier Hate colliding with the ominous atmosphere of Ulcerate and groovier ambitions of Replicant, Towards Oblivion oscillates between crushing weight and morose, undulating passages. Strategically placed starts, stops, and tempo changes enhance Supreme Void’s varying moods and textures as eight-string guitar provides conquering low-end and drums pummel everything into dust with devastating precision. Exile’s monstrous roars blanket Supreme Void’s underlying chaos with a thick layer of demonic miasma while the grim rumble of bass rounds out the trio’s vast and immersive sound. Opener “Remnants of Hope” is a fitting representation of what to expect on Towards Oblivion with Ravager’s cacophonous arpeggiations, blazing tremolos, and mammoth chugs shifting and writhing with Cyklon’s syncopated eruptions and Exile’s massive roars. Benefiting once again from excellent production, Supreme Void crafts a dissonant and heavy soundscape marked by writhing tension.

Supreme Void’s powerful guitar-drum attack drives Towards Oblivion’s sinister manifestation with colossal might, binding twists, turns, and jolts into an intense and turbulent auditory assault. Tracks like “Sustained by Malice” and “Eclipse of the Exalted” contrast storms of discordant chords, thrashy riffs, and machine-like rhythms with trudging grooves, enigmatic hooks, and dark atmospheric transitions that are off-kilter but also captivating. Tasteful solos (“Embrace Extinction,” “Dissolution of Power,” “Repulse Manifesto”) showcase both technical skill and emotional vision while Meshuggah-esque drawls and plodding hits drag you further into the abyss. Cyklon’s drumming is outstanding—his menacing blasts and kicks melding with darting tempos, grooving transitions, and flickering cymbal flares augment Exile and Ravager’s swirling arpeggiated dissensions and percussive shredding. Unleashing terror, Exile’s growls saturate everything with an ardent layer of filth, effortlessly tearing through the instrumental mass. The production enhances everything, granting the material the necessary space to exude its qualities while allowing each piece of Supreme Void’s sonic onslaught to shine through with refreshing clarity.

For all of Supreme Void’s merits, Towards Oblivion is sometimes challenged by a sense of imbalance across its thirty-eight-minute runtime. “Repulse Manifesto” follows a less compelling arc as “Dissolution of Power” or “Remnants of Hope,” for example, which fully realize Supreme Void’s immersive qualities. Beginning with a subdued militaristic-like primer that feels like it should be a separate interlude, the track takes too long to develop before surging into its more convincing second half. While this hints at Supreme Void’s ability to command a “slow burn” style of songwriting, the execution is awkward and affects the song’s course. Additionally, closer “Embrace Extinction” lacks the same memorable hooks as Towards Oblivion’s stronger compositions, and “Eclipse of the Exalted” feels a bit overlong, largely due to the song’s cyclical back end.

Despite these stumbles, however, Towards Oblivion finds Supreme Void delivering a strong debut that effectively merges the ferocious sounds of Polish death metal with the dark, ominous tones of today’s disso-death scene. The young trio’s dynamic interplay of crushing heaviness, shifting tempos, maddening dissonance, and technical skill—particularly the one-two punch of the guitars and drums—is enveloping and will appeal to fans across the ever-widening death metal spectrum. Although Towards Oblivion occasionally trips at asserting its vigor, Supreme Void’s clear command of aural intensity, coupled with their ambition, serves as a gateway for them to rip open the abyss with reckless abandon in the future. I, for one, will be eagerly waiting to venture into the void again.

Rating: Good!
DR: N/A | Format Reviewed: Stream
Label: Dolorem Records | Bandcamp
Websites: supremevoid.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/supremevoid
Releases Worldwide: April 25th, 2025

#2025 #30 #Apr25 #Behemoth #DeathMetal #Depravity #DissonantDeathMetal #DoloremRecords #Gorguts #Hate #Meshuggah #PolishMetal #ProgressiveDeath #Replicant #Review #Reviews #SupremeVoid #TowardsOblivion #Ulcerate

Infern – Turn of the Tide Review

By Steel Druhm

My second Soundcloud death metal promo in the matter of a week? Seems time is moving backward as I slowly devolve into a knuckle-dragging proto-man with outmoded tech. Turn of the Tide, the debut by French act Infern isn’t the worst soundtrack for a Neanderthal revival as it’s heavily inspired by none other than the mighty Bolt Thrower. Bands taking inspiration from the original War Masters are plentiful, but when that core sound is repurposed, good things can happen no matter how many times you’ve heard the formula before. Can Infern keep things on the safe side of the DMZ and avoid the landmines of rote imitation and generic cloning? The way through is forward, so let’s take a step into the bloody mud and hope we don’t hear a little clicking sound.

Opener “Undertow” is guaranteed to light up the battlefield for most death fanciers. It’s a rallying point for all the beloved tropes of the aforementioned iconic U.K. band and Infern know their stuff. The riffs channel the same grinding, unstoppable Panzer division momentum, the heaviness is oppressive and the use of force is excessive. This could have appeared on Those Once Loyal and nothing would seem amiss. It’s imitation sure, but a very good one. Tracks like “Gaining Ground” keep the assault moving ever forward, blasting and crushing all resistance with massive riffs and deadly violence. “State Puppet Theater” also rides the tank coat-tails and delivers many an armor-piercing riff even as they spice things up with interesting melodic guitar flourishes at points. “Gaining Ground” follows suit with simple but effective latch-tossing leads and driving, propulsive energy. None of this material approaches new or original, but it’s done well enough to make an impression.

Lest Infern stamp themselves as a mere clone of their main muse, efforts are made to add a bit of their unique identity to the proceedings. “Phineas Case” isn’t too far afield from their chief influence but the guitar work is different enough to push it beyond mere homage. “Archetype of Brutal Aggressor” offers massive mid-paced crush grooves and also features blackened elements, segments that reek of Deicide’s stench of redemption as well as Slayer’s time-share in the abyss. Closer “Buried Alive” weaves melancholic, doomy harmonies into the fog of war, making for a moody denouement to the carnage. A few songs fall a bit short of the best moments, with “To the Extreme” being the least effective, but overall the material runs from good to better than good. At a concise 39-plus minute and with most songs in the 3-4 minute frame, things move along like a souped-up half-track and there are no issues with bloat.

Jean-Marie Grövel and Pierre-Loup Corvez follow the Bolt Thrower field manual often enough to show where their loyalty lies, but deviate enough to keep things from getting too predictable, imparting outside influences to shake up the recipe. They’re adept at crafting concrete-dusting grooves and remorselessly wargrinding power chugs and the occasional melodic solo is a welcome shift, as are the subtle blackened and thrash elements. These suggest there might be more depth to Infern than what this batch of tunes demonstrates. Julien Edwood’s vocals are very much of the Karl Willetts school of death roars, not the most extreme gurgler out there but he gets the point across effectively and then some.

Turn of the Tide is a solid if not exceptional debut by a band that clearly has a crush on a death metal legend. Since there are plenty of bands out there doing the “we have Bolt Thrower at home” thing, they’ll need to move further away from limitation to get ahead in the scene. That said, I’m the exact demographic for what they love doing and eat this shit up like frosted ape cake. You likely will too if you have refined tastes like yours Steely. Well worth a spin for your fallen homies.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: NA | Format Reviewed: FUCKING Soundcloud
Label: Dolorem Records
Websites: infern.bandcamp.com/album | facebook.com/inferndeathmetal | instagram.com/infern_deathmetal
Releases Worldwide: October 4th, 202

#2024 #30 #Asphyx #BoltThrower #DeathMetal #Deicide #DoloremRecords #FrenchMetal #Infern #JustBeforeDawn #Oct24 #Review #Reviews #TurnOfTheTide