Emptiness - Nothing But the Whole (2014)

Belgium's Emptiness is not a band which could ever be accused of putting its roots down in one site and never moving. From the more structured sophomore Oblivion, with its frenetic and memorable death metal riffing palette, to the more loosely defined surreal black metal of Error, they've never precisely locked down one single sound, and somehow that fact has kept them interesting. With Nothing But the Whole, they sort of attempt to continue the atmospheric overtures of the latter while bringing back a more consistent and diverse riffing component, and the result might just be their most interesting and unique effort to date, notably for just how well its disparate parts flow together as a whole...

The intro tune on this thing ("Go and Hope") is brilliant; distant and eerie tremolo picked guitars accented with creepy spoken word passages and cleaner plucked guitars that help the momentum ascend into a broiling, echoed distortion and subsequent calm. It's incredibly unusual and catchy, with a similar, captivating psychedelic effect I felt on the first Oranssi Pazuzu record, and thus ran my expectations for the entire record straight up the charts. That song is not exactly characteristic of the entire album, which explores a broad range of black, death and thrash metal aesthetics in the rhythm guitar structures, some freakish and others quite mechanical, but they absolutely keep the ball within an atmospheric playing field. Dense, broiling bass lines, somnolent voices hovering above the instruments, and a near constant ambiance created through the guitars that serves up a welcome contrast to the churning and grooving riffs used to maintain the metallic balance. Most importantly, there is just always something compelling happening within the music which the ear can focus on, so even if a riff comes up short in quality, it never stands alone in the esoteric nightmare Emptiness is forging here.

A few of the songs seem so deliriously post-industrial in nature that I'm reminded of some of Dodheimsgard and Mayhem's experimentation, or the Polish band Non Opus Dei, who had a few similar albums, or maybe even a black/death metal analog to Coroner's much debated Grin, but I think a lot of Error does bleed through onto this more so than its predecessors. Particularly the vocals, which are an ebb and flow between a wall of nihilistic barking and the more sinister, cerebral garbles and whispers that help loosen the architecture of the record to something more spontaneous in nature. Upon first exposure, there was no telling what was going to happen next...for example, the percussive, meandering "The Past is Death" cedes to the haunting, escalating ambiance of "Lowland" at the close of the record, but at the same time that sort of 'completes the circle' they had set up at the start. The drums are often more akin to scene-setting dark theatrical effects than standard beats, and the thick bass is constantly concocting a subliminal groove in between the viral metallic outbreaks.

Nothing But the Whole is ultimately a pessimistic, emotional journey which shows very little respect for convention while simultaneously and subconsciously keeping those bases covered, if only by the bands' toes while they choose where on the field to steal next. It's brooding and leaves a sulphuric residue in your ears and mouth, almost like you were chain smoking to some cut-up noir film reel via projector, in which some eccentric had hidden a message of the end times you are trying to unravel. The lyrics are personal and interesting, contending with the processes of self-awareness and addiction, and while it's not perfect, it is those very imperfections which make for such immersion. My personal tastes still run towards their second album, being a riff guy that album's genius would be criminal to ignore, but Emptiness have delivered what is easily one of the most mesmerizing efforts in recent months, something I'll surely still be visiting years from now. Plus that cover...fuck!

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10] (to end up in the same cage)

http://www.emptiness.be/

Emptiness - Error (2012)

Having discovered Belgians Emptiness through their superb 2007 sophomore Oblivion, I had build up rather massive expectations for the inevitable follow-up, which I'm afraid haven't exactly been met with Error. Not to write this off as a negative step or a bad album by any means, but here they've gone for a more chaotic, atmospheric tone that falls somewhat short of the riffing explosions characteristic of Oblivion, and I'm not sure the trade pays off. Granted, both of the band's earlier works were quite distinct and atmospheric efforts in of themselves, but the guitar progressions felt more expressive and structured where here they form simpler patterns beneath the low pitch of the vocals, with perhaps a sheen of black influence circa the recent Enthroned (which Phorgath and Nerath Daemon also play in).

Tracks like "Worst" and "Error" are loaded with these simplistic tremolo lines whose intention is to hypnotize the listener while the tectonic gutturals belch forth alongside the thundering drum belligerence of drummer Twan. Very often, the tracks will lurch into these shifting, dissonant grooves that feel seismic in origin but rarely catch the ear for long, or they'll drift into spacier ambient/distorted guitar sequences where the percussion will subside, or the occasional blasted burst. The leads are frenzied and often trippy (once again, I'd refer you to the title track "Error") but rarely very memorable, and though the band are playing in perfect lock step, there seems something so loose and messy about the songs that it seems underwhelming after the sheer magnificence of the last album. That said, there are some points here where it all really gels together to create this warm, cavernous post-metal cacophony with strains of textured chords that write about the mind, usually deeper on the record like "Low" or the closer "No Earth".

Particular threads are certainly consistent with Oblivion, like the minimalistic approach to song titles, the deeper vocals and a number of the guitar sequences, but I feel they were definitely attempting something more tangibly ominous and raw. Strangely, Error is perhaps the most consistent of the band's records in terms of its internal variation. It plays out like a single, menacing symphony from some subterranean space, and it's nearly as oppressive, jarring and unnerving as something from Australians Portal, or perhaps a death metal Neurosis. Alas, this time out the songs simply are not of the caliber that I wished to experience repeatedly; but those who are heavily enamored of the voluminous, chasmal death metal redolent of early Autopsy, Incantation or Immolation, and would be interested in an admittedly different take on the aesthetic, would certainly do well to give these sepulchral emissions at least a once over. For if anything, Emptiness retains a unique quality to it that you won't hear every day.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

http://www.emptiness.be/

Emptiness - Oblivion (2007)

Guilty to Exist had already proven an adequate foundation for this Belgian experimental death metal squad's immense and immersive permutations on the genre, but what it lacked was a truly distinct riffing ability, the means to draw the listener back beyond its elemental, atmospheric outreach. Oblivion addresses these issues and more, with an incredibly rich production that was easily one of the best of 2007, in death or any other metal, and a slew of full bodied guitar work that more than apologizes from the shortcomings of its elder sibling. But behind this, Emptiness remain loyal to their grim, engrossing aesthetic, only tightening the duration and number of tracks they will require to cave in the listener's cranium while having he/she drooling for more.

No time is spared in parading the three years of evolution this band has undergone; "Truth of Trinity" comes out with all cylinders firing off into the void, a brief wash of noise and samples exploding into a well of complex riffs that constantly lay scourge to the mind, produced with as much discord as a technical black metal record, a mix of the band's guttural and higher pitched rasping vocals, and a tendency to continue quickening until the deeper, thrashing segments of the track that are bathed in pale, clinical lighting. "Summon" goes beyond even this, with one of the most superb arrangements on the entire record, an unforgettable stream of melodic wildfire and intense bass playing that stands out well on its own below the descending dementia of the guitars during the jazzy, atmospheric break at 1:00. This is followed by a great, twisting mute riff before 1:30 which dominates its own lead accompaniment, and the tracks wailing climax imprints deep into the memory.

Merely half a second later, the frenzy of "Feeding Force" continues the compulsive brilliance, a roiling mesh of brilliant grind/thrash, deep battering grooves and sporadic bursts of arching melody that once again pass unto legend. Essentially, you are given no chance to rest your bones before the next ass kicking, the rising hostility of "Crushing Ignorance" which completely rocks your kneecaps off again, sprawling you upon the asylum floor. "Forgotten" offers a glint of melodic despair, once again hinting at black metal through its morose hysterics, later adapting a gliding, pensive death metal structure which feels like parasailing across a dense, black sun. Also of note would be the chaotic crusher "Beyond the Rites", the thrash and bounce of "Guilty to Exist" (named for the debut album), and the sleek, memorable grooves that inaugurate "Exhausted Forms". "Slave" and "L.E.A.D." are likewise worth hearing, but they are the least of the band's compositions here, so it's just as well that they arrive so late in the duration.

Oblivion sees Emptiness reaching their true potential, and it's easily one of the best Belgian albums of its class. It may lack an engrossing industrial sequence as the one which closed the debut (though there are a pair of title track segues that fit this bill), and yet it compensates with so much good riffing that you'll very quickly lose count. Dark, concise, and compelling, there really are not many other albums out there like it, and it's set up some huge expectations for anything the band could possibly produce in the future. My initial reaction to this album was one of disturbed enticement, but through only a few shorts years it has grown into a tense rapture. Well worth whatever you would need to spend on it.

Verdict: Epic Win [9.5/10]

http://www.emptiness.be/

Emptiness - Guilty to Exist (2004)

I'm surprised Belgians Emptiness have not caught on by this point, because surely they offer one of the more unique experiences in European death metal, and stand as one of the finer examples of the medium from their home turf. I might be hard pressed to call their approach 'experimental', but there is a particular progression at play throughout their works which is refreshing and difficult to peg on any specific influences. The band's 2004 debut Guilty to Exist is not the better of their albums, but it establishes the band's uncanny taste in mixing grooves, flowing melodic chords, industrial/ambient segues, and guttural poetry into a distinct portrait of depressive aggression which parallels their tasteful eye in cover packaging.

The band has shared members with a number of other Belgian bands, in particular the black metal veterans Enthroned and death unknowns Hybrid Viscery, but Emptiness is by far the most enthralling of their creations, and the 17 tracks and 44 minutes of Guilty to Exist are at the least a rounded introduction. Few of the compositions here are substantial beyond a mere 2-3 minutes, with the exception of the finale "The Loss and Blind Perceptions", but strangely they need little time to envelop the listener in a cerebral, subterranean state of bewitchment channeling everything from Morbid Angel, Vader and Napalm Death to the morbid, abstract striations of a Demilich or Alchemist, bleak bottom feeding of a Disembowlment, and even the primal melodic/industrial leanings of a Fear Factory.

"Tyrants Forever" serves as hors d'ouvres to the remainder of the record: a slight, grating intro descends into hammering grooves and then a splash of pensive, melodic guitars that reverberate across a landscape of punishment. There are no truly compelling riffs within its borders, but it sets up a style that the band will keep coming back to through "Subhuman Submission", "Age of Nothing" and "Xenomorph". These are not among the album's better selections, yet functional as a backbone to more wide ranging pieces like the septic, blackish metal that drives "None Existence", the immensely atmospheric "Tenebrium Prophecies", or the desperate fury of "By the Loss of Our Dogma". Coupled with some interesting industrial intros/interludes like "Into the 11th Blackshell" or the pair of tracks titled simply "Interludium", you are cast to and fro upon a sea of negative psychic turbulence that resonates in atmosphere (if not notation) well past the records playtime.

However, the best single piece on Guilty to Exist is the beautiful, harrowing industrial/ambient finale "The Loss and Blind Perceptions", which swelters through a carefully measured filtration of rambling yet sparse percussive beats and synthesized melody. Here, the artist's vision is so well realized that you wonder why they didn't just scrap the metal pieces and write us a dozen such excursions. I personally loved this, and would love more, but I can ultimately understand its place in the band's broader cosmos of thought. Emptiness will immediately capture the attention due to their unique style, but in the end, the sum of their debut is far more palatable than many of its individual parts, which do not promote careful composition in the guitars so much that they forge many brief links in an unforgiving whole. The band will destroy this effort with the following Oblivion in 2007, but its still one of the more intriguing Belgian death records I've come across.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

http://www.emptiness.be/