Band:	Evoken
Album:	A Caress Of The Void
Style:	Death metal, Funeral doom metal
Release date:	November 20, 2007
A review by:	Marcel Hubregtse

01. A Caress Of The Void
02. Mare Erythraeum
03. Of Purest Absolution
04. Astray In Eternal Night
05. Descend the Lifeless Womb
06. Suffer A Martyr's Trial (Procession At Dusk)
07. Orogeny

Probably THE most anticipated extreme doom release of 2007 is finally upon us. And that after only a two-year wait. So Evoken have speeded up their song-writing pace, but thank God they didn't speed up the music itself.

Putting the cd into the player with trembling hands and sweaty palms I press the play button and in typical Evoken fashion "suddenly the horizon darkens, swallowing every single ray of light that tries to penetrate the gloomy clouds" © DerRozzengarten 2005. And I am instantly being enveloped by the majestic treacly riffs which suck me into a void while caressing me.

Though this time around the music seems to treat me less hateful, not wanting to cause any pain. It is as if I have passed away and gone to meet my maker and Evoken is my guide trying to comfort me with a warm damp blanket lulling me into a false sense of security. A false sense of security? Yes, cause at first listen A Caress Of The Void might seem lighter, almost optimistic compared to The Antithesis Of Light, but that is only on a superficial level. Once you get immersed you will still find the hatred and pain there brooding like a looming Elder underneath the surface of the earth. Every single chance it gets it grabs you by the throat and slowly suffocates you and just before your last breath leaves you It softens its hold again.
It is this interaction between evil and good, dark and light, hate and love, that makes A Caress Of The Void such a more interesting proposition and more mature release than The Antithesis Of Light. At its best moments it comes damn close to Evoken's masterpiece Quietus.

The production is once again top-notch and totally befitting this brand of extreme funeral death doom. Heavy, woolly, and even light and breathing where needed, accentuating the instruments at the right moments.

Overall combination of the songs, execution, atmosphere, production will get you hooked pretty quickly if you're willing to listen through the first superficial layer of hopefulness.
Sit back in a comfortable chair, light a good Cuban cigar, pour yourself a Lagavulin, switch off the lights and let the Beast draw you into its void.

Highlights? Seven black holes is more like it. Just go out and run to your record store and get hold of this masterpiece. And if it is too slow and dark for you, may I recommend you some flowery European power metal instead?