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NOTHINGNESS "Godslaughter"
NOTHINGNESS "Godslaughter"
By Dr. Abner Mality
We need another sub-sub-genre like Chicago needs more guns but that is what NOTHINGNESS is giving us with what they called "digressive death metal". Oh brother...
Yet after hearing "Godslaughter" in its entirety, the Good Doctor must admit that this Minneapolis faction has come up with something fairly unique. Their sound is also described as "dissonant" but this isn't like any other "disso-death" band I've heard. Not a bit like ULCERATE or many of the bands on Transcending Obscurity. I'd almost put it in the "caveman" death metal category. But that doesn't quite fit either.
Well, what the hell does it sound like? "HEAVY" is accurate for sure. This is a brutal album that is sometimes very simple and direct but at other times subtly different. Gory cover art and song titles like "Convulsing Putrefaction" and "Incredible Violence" signal adherence to time honored tropes. But when you contrast the record's first track "Incinerated Immediately" with final number "Novus Hegemonikon", it could almost be two completely different bands. The first track, lasting just 1:39, is a simple basic riff that is almost more of a pulsation. combined with machine-like percussion and crispy fried vocals. It's almost like primitive death meets MESHUGGAH. The latter number is more moody and much more complex, with doom-laden weight and a melodic guitar solo that is unlike anything else on the album. It's a very clever way to show the depth of NOTHINGNESS.
In between those two extremes is a kind of brutal death that leans more towards simple yet almost math-metal structures. The longer tracks tend to drag a bit, like "Trenchant Glunch", which nevertheless has the song title of the year so far. I prefer the shorter and more direct likes of "Skull Evulsion" with its almost thrash-like riffs and "Incredible Violence" with its strange intro and meathead chugs.
Not a perfect album, but more here than meets the ear and it is tough to compare NOTHINGNESS to any other band when taken in its totality.
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