Embedded Files
GUTVOID “Liminal Shrines”
GUTVOID “Liminal Shrines”
By Dr. Abner Mality
2026 has not produced a real knockout death metal album…until now. This is the first I’ve heard. These Canadians are constantly improving and on “Liminal Shrines”, they’ve delivered a death-doom masterpiece that’s going to be hard to better.
This is just a record where everything sounds right. They are a death metal band first, a doom band second and there’s also a cool touch of progression and the unexpected in there as well. It is “cavernous” death in the classic sense, with a dark and cryptic vibe, but there’s also plenty of balls-out aggression. Cuts like “Umbriel’s Door” and “Chasm Of Displaced Souls” rip open with battering ram intensity but often shift to slower and moodier sections. The guitar tone changes “throughout the album, avoiding the monotone feeling so many extreme bands suffer from. On “Lead Me Beyond the Sleeping I”, there’s an amazing section where a clean choir adds its tones to the mid-paced surge…you have to hear it to appreciate how well it works. But GUTVOID never goes overboard with these moments…the record is heavier than America’s national debt.
Throughout all their EPs and previous releases, this band has been moving forward in the best way. “Liminal Shrines” has no filler or bad songs and keeps you engaged throughout. That is surely not an easy thing to do these days. Highly recommended.
Report abuse