Artist: Withershin
Title: The Hungering Void
Type: EP
Label: Canonical Hours

Black metal is just too damned clever these days. All this beard-stroking experimentation, lofty statements redefining the genre… In all seriousness, I am all for experimentation and I love hearing anything out of the ordinary, but every now and then it’s good to hear some straight-forward, unpretentious black/death metal blasted out in honour of the horned one below. With The Hungering Void, that’s exactly what you get. There’s only three tracks on this EP, clocking in at a mere 15 minutes so it’s a short blast, but its quality that really matters, not quantity, and if these are anything to go by then their album released in 2008 is probably worth a listen too.

After the obligatory atmospheric opening passage to set the scene, ‘Wherein I Exalt’ springs wide open revealing a series of blasting drumbeats and menacing guitars. There’s a thick dusting of frost lingering on the surface, with an icy cold feel as things speed ahead, while the occasional slow passage really emits a certain grimness. As the track draws to a close the combination of distant chanting and scraping steel makes things rather unnerving and then a sudden, piercing scream brings us to track two; ‘The Hungering Void.’ The guitars here are sharp and scything; the vocals are ferocious, but highly listenable, rasp that sound particularly formidable on the repetitive chants towards the end of the track.

‘Crossing The Threshold’ is the best of the three tracks; again, this kicks in with a sinister intro designed to build atmosphere. It’s clear that this band are all about full-on fury, but the occasional slow parts sound evil and menacing and don’t detract from the main sound at all. As this really gets going, it’s a cold and heavy, driving riff that moves it along and there’s a hint of Satyricon in its swagger here. A tribal drum suddenly beats its way into the foreground momentarily, really accentuating the massive, punishing rhythm. Withershin aren’t breaking any boundaries here, but this is highly competent stuff that makes me want to bang my head.

http://www.myspace.com/withershin