Wound, Inhale the Void
Wound hale from Germany and may have been raised on steins of Warsteiner but the chugging death metal they play sounds as though they’ve been sipping on the lagers of Sweden the past few years. While the Swedish death metal influence is certainly strong with Inhale the Void, the music doesn’t fall into the Entombed bucket of buzz-sawing riffage. Instead, the nine songs (plus an acoustic intro) channel a more polished and sharp sound — it’s not as muddied or textured as the aforementioned luminaries.
After the three minute long “Odium,” an instrumental that smacks of Amorphis’ “Karelia,” Wound get down to business with the chunky riffs and steady tempo of “Codex Arcanum.” The guitar tone sits comfortably in the proper old school range, but aren’t as Entombified as most imitators that have come along in recent years. Instead the riffs, especially when combined with the snarling vocals, sound more reminiscent of Dismember or early Necrophobic. The track has a solid galloping groove that permeates the air and continues along nicely in “Echoes,” a song that does have more of that Entombed/Unleashed sound. It’s a burly one with plenty of vehemence. The dual vocal attack (or just one dude?) does well to give the song some depth.
“The Unsolved Obscurity” is another solid offering with an injection of rolling d-beat into the mix. I dig this song. It’s packed with plenty of head-banging groove and aggression. The rumbling bass is a nice touch as well. It’s quickly followed by the frenzied attack of “Forever Denial,” which absolutely slays. It’s an aggressive track that rarely lets up on the accelerator, driving the chugging death metal down your throat with a vengeance. “Corroded from Within” is another beast of a track. It’s fairly straightforward in its delivery, but I’ll be damned to Hell if the track doesn’t demolish all in its unfortunate path.
“The Price of Tyranny” is not just the longest song presented, but also the one that carries the most Entomb-like influence on the riffage. It’s length and groove make it a pretty solid contender for best on this release. The album closer and title track, “Inhale the Void,” takes on a sinister tinge of black metal as the vocals are chanted/growled throughout the atmospheric piece.
The band’s incorporation of some d-beat influences amongst the bruising Swedish death metal is a nice touch and one that I wholeheartedly welcome. I do love me some Old School Death Metal (Entombed is and will forever be one of my favorite bands), but the glut of apery in the past few years has been draining at times. It’s nice to see a band like Wound change things up a good deal and offer something new (and old) to ears that go through a few new albums every day.