Band:	Spectral Voice
Album:	Eroded Corridors Of Unbeing
Style:	Death doom metal
Release date:	October 13, 2017
Guest review by:	VIG

01. Thresholds Beyond
02. Visions Of Psychic Dismemberment
03. Lurking Gloom
04. Terminal Exhalation Of Being
05. Dissolution

Death/doom is a genre that mixes the two genres of death and doom to create a very dark genre in metal. Paradise Lost, Winter, and Disembowelment come to mind. But over time the death metal started to drift off and away, and us poor fans were left with loads of doom with growled vocals. But a little-known band known as Spectral Voice has come along to save us. Maco and I spammed the shoutbox with #AddSpectralVoice2017, and our voices were #Heard. (Thanks Rod!)

This is why Spectral Voice feels so fresh and new and exciting to most. After a few great EPs and a split with the explosion in modern cavernous death metal known as Blood Incantation, they released Eroded Corridors Of Unbeing on Dark Descent Records.

We start off with an eerie intro of "Thresholds Behold", featuring a descending arpeggio with lots of reverb (and some noise in the background), which gets louder when the band kicks in, and you hear that deep, monstrous growl. This is basically the definition of the bleak and depressing sound that is death/doom and sets the premise for the album. The "cookie monster" vocal style, with those un-understandable growls, the repeated guitar riffs, and that cavernous production, along with lots of bass, both with the bass guitar and the drums, and eventually we even hear the keyboards, an instrument used a lot in dooom.

There is actually not that much vocals here. Yes, there are parts where there are a lot, but for the most part, it's instrumental. Something interesante about the band is that the drummer is also the vocalist, which is not affecting the music, nor is it unheard of, but it is a rarity and a neat thing to see in metal.

The instrumentation is excellent; I, for one, especially love the guitar work here. As I mentioned earlier, this has that cavernous and murky production, which I adore. A little more than halfway through my favorite track, "Visions Of Psychic Dismemberment", the song dies out and there is just some screaming in the background along with some guitar noises, which leads to a new riff and a humongous roar. One of my favorite moments of the album right there (by the way, that whole song is awesome).

These Colorado boyz will do great for your upcoming metal Christmas-bash! The album is on Dark Descent's Bandcamp for $7 USD.