Review: Spectral Voice “Eroded Corridors of Unbeing” [Dark Descent Records]

There are very few records that grew on me at the rate that Spectral Voice’s debut album did. I only found out about it within the past couple of months, despite it being out for years. Doom/death is tricky, because it’s usually a grower style for me, and while Eroded Corridors Of Unbeing did take several listens to become something I love, those listens happened rapidly. As soon as it was over, I wanted to hear it again. And again. And then I bought it.

Essentially, I look at Corridors as one giant song that should go without interruption. The whole thing is a continuous wave that shifts back and forth between a few prominent formulaic tactics. Usually, an album that doesn’t have a lot of differences between songs won’t sit well with me, but I’ll be damned if this one didn’t do it perfectly. Obviously, slow and trudging riffs with ungodly levels of force make up a decent amount of it. But the gradual progressions to blistering death metal riffs are what make it so unique. There aren’t many points without gray space that show sudden changes.

Those gradual changes are the other half of the equation. Strong bass presence ties a lot of the loose ends together. Often, this will be backed up with cleaner, weeping licks that add tons of life. The one flaw I find here is that a work comprised of five long songs is bound to have something drag. The fourteen (or so) minute “Visions Of Psychic Dismemberment” has this issue. The noisy soundscapes are haunting, creeping all around the second half, as do the drawn-out doom chugs. But there does come a point in that one where I’m ready to move on.

Besides that, though, the rest is timed perfectly and weaves in and out at perfect points. “Lurking Gloom” takes the crawling rhythms with cleaner licks and litters the background with drum blasts at break-neck speeds. Jumps to focused guitar pieces make their way in, and the song winds up molding all of that together. The vocals are incomprehensible; you can’t understand a thing that’s being said. But that adds more flavor, casting murkier slabs to this already grueling cavern of filth. It’s truly magnificent.

Nothing about this is meant to be melodic. Sure, the softer guitar leads do drop hints of that, but everything about those serves to gain a feeling. Thus, Eroded Corridors Of Unbeing is strictly built off of the rhythm patterns, utilizing everything else as layer garnishes. How the layers come together, the placement of them, the timing, and the production are all what make Spectral Voice such an anomaly. Very few bands can do what they do without losing my attention, and I can’t recommend this enough to fans of extreme music.

You can buy here Eroded Corridors Of Unbeing – https://amzn.to/2H1867w