Void Forger - Ruined (2012)

Demo, Independent / Self-released
April 3rd, 2012

Genre: Blackened Hardcore/Crust/Doom Metal/Black Metal
Region: Romania

I've mentioned before I'm backed up on requests. I hope to remedy that soon. Here's one from Void Forger, a crusty blackened doom three piece from Romania who have released this demo themselves for free.

There's a lot of genres blended within these three tracks but these guys manage to keep it from getting muddled and haphazard. This is what I imagine Young and In The Way would sound like if they had more doom elements. It's a pretty even mix all the way through with the crust and hardcore moments peaking over top in many instances. The riffs from the bass and guitar are slow, coarse and chunky for the most part with bouts of faster chops both punk-like powerchords and black metal tremolo tears; the production is raw making the atmosphere quite gritty. Deep growls and blackened yells briefly surface from the murky depths and the drums splash and froth among the other members.

Pointless Media starts of mid paced and heavy before breaking into a thrashy section, and ending with nice tapped riff that starts off very YAITW-ish. Relief starts of a little faster with a crusty, bouncy, muffled rhythm that heads into a few blackened bits of territory before slowing down, hitting a nice section of chords before diving back into chaos; they make an out on a gritty bass line and a nice dark tremolo riff.

Automation is the final track and the most sludgy. A slow opening riff and pounding percussion rotates comfortably for a minute or two, changing not long after that but maintaining speed. It finally builds after some feedback and a bass line into a nice hardcore section to end, quite catchy.

There is definite promise and potential in Void Forger's demo, some room to grow and tighten up but as a whole it's a great demo. Anyone who's enjoying the wave of crusty blackened hardcore at the moment and wants a little more doom/sludge to spice up the mix would be smart to give this short release some attention. Check them out on bandcamp and facebook.

DOWNLOAD (Bandcamp)
DOWNLOAD (Mediafire)