Caveman Death Metal feels dime-a-dozen nowadays, with many up and coming bands deciding to pursue this filth-encrusted style. But none of them do it quite as well as the filthy Danish kings themselves, Undergang, a band which has been slinging their particular brand of slime since 2008. Here they’ve teamed up with American Death Doom cave-dwellers Spectral Voice in a surprise shadow-dropped split release—titled simply Spectral Voice / Undergang Split. A split is best used to show off the particular strengths of each band that contributes to it and can sometimes favor one band in a way that makes the other feel underwhelming, see last year’s Suffering Hour and Malthusian split, where Suffering Hour outshines their Irish partners. I can safely assure that this is not the case with Spectral Voice and Undergang.
The sounds of an entity shoveling dirt onto something are your only warning before Undergang kicks off the split with riffs that embody the term “unga bunga”. I’m pleased to say that the sound that first drew me to them on Misantropologi, and that further held my interest on Aldrig i livet, is still there with vocalist David Torturdød continuing to produce some of the most inhuman growls in the game. The guitars are what really shines on the three Undergang tracks, the leadwork landing particularly impressive in its touch of wank amidst the nastier ooze. Spectral Voice‘s contribution to the split takes shape in long-form Death Doom—emphasis on the Death—songs that reaffirm why they are so highly regarded in the first place. There’s a funereal heft to “Craving Final Impasse” and the images it evokes are those of the Earth opening up to swallow you whole. Only the pure ugliness that Spectral Voice conjures fill the ears, no moment of wank in sight. In an ideal world, this is the sign that a new Spectral Voice album is on the horizon, but given how enigmatic this group is, we won’t know until it’s imminent. Spectral Voice / Undergang Split is fantastic, and will more than likely enter high into my top EPs of the year. It will crush you under its weight and keep you coming back for more.
