GUTVOID

Canada has long been a hotbed of brilliant, next-level tech-death. Bands as varied as CRYPTOPSY, GORGUTS, MARTYR and ARCHSPIRE immediately come to mind. Making noise since 2019, Toronto's GUTVOID are doing their best to keep that Northern flame burning. The Ontario band's second full-length album, "Liminal Shrines", is a six-track banger that will be just as fruitful for prog-heads as they ought to be for brutal death metal fans.

GUTVOID are a blend of modern death and death-doom with an ever-present prog mindset. Comprised of guitarist Daniel Bonofiglio, guitarist / vocalist B.D. (Brendan Dean),bassist Justin Boehm and drummer D. W. Lee, GUTVOID boast a chemistry that most bands would die for.

From the get-go through to the finale the riffs are nasty, knuckle-dragging and filthy, providing the perfect backdrop for the cavernous death metal vocals. GUTVOID have properly captured the Neanderthal death metal guitar sound, wielded toward unique ends that are truly progressive in spirit. That said, they also provide meat 'n' potatoes death metal that is sure to satiate CANNIBAL CORPSE fans, as they do at the onset of "Umbriel's Door" and "Spell Reliquary", which are scathing before winding into transcendental madness in the way that made classic PESTILENCE.

The Canadians sound like they're bursting out of the gates of hell at the onset of "Smothering Sea" with winding death metal insanity that may as well have been penned by Trey Azagthoth. All of this is before a playful, jagged bounce solidifies and keeps bobbling along with the band's child-like curiosity and excitement. "Lead Me Beyond The Sleeping" chugs along with grimace and fury, nearly anthemic toward song's end, and that's before the subdued and beautiful acoustic guitars wind everything down. There is far too much nuance and detail to comprehend at times.

GUTVOID is everything that BLOOD INCANTATION should be: an immensely talented tech-death band that moves about with prowess. But unlike that highly regarded Colorado band, GUTVOID makes music with purpose. "Liminal Shrines" is an excellent release for death metal fans who are craving something that's highly ambitious and adventurous.