- Country: USA (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
- Genre: Death Metal / Progressive Death Metal / Dissonant Death Metal
- For fans of: Replicant, Teeth, Nightmarer, Gorguts
NOTHINGNESS – Godslaughter
Nothingness from Minneapolis return with their third full-length and this time it seems they’ve put a little more order into their chaos. “Godslaughter” keeps that strange and dark identity they’ve had from the start, but it’s more direct, heavier and, above all, easier to follow.
Nothingness started in 2018 with guitarist Alex L. and vocalist Barclay Olson, while later drummer Jason Hirt completed the band’s core. Their first album, “The Hollow Gaze of Death”, showed a band that didn’t want to be confined to a particular kind of Death Metal.
In 2023 came “Supraliminal”, a stranger and slower album, with a good dose of psychedelia, sludge and dissonance. It was an interesting listen, but in quite a few places you admired the way the band worked more than the songs themselves.
On “Godslaughter” it seems Nothingness understood that.
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More weight, less wandering
From the start of the album the band goes at the subject more aggressively. The first tracks are shorter, tighter and have more groove.
“Incinerated Immediately” works as a short jab before “Convulsing Putrefaction” arrives and the album truly opens up.
On “Skull Evulsion” Nothingness are at their best. The guitars have that huge, filthy sound, the drums hit hard and the vocals add even more chaos.
The interesting thing is that, despite the barbarity, the track has a rhythm you can follow. It isn’t just a wall of sound.
“Trenchant Glunch” moves a little more strangely. It plays more with groove and changes, showing again that strange side of Nothingness.
Where Death Metal gets heavier
“Vanquishing Providence” is one of the album’s best moments. Here the band slows down a bit and lets the weight do the work.
There’s something of Incantation and Gorguts in the way the guitars move, but without sounding like a simple copy. The track has its own identity and shows a more mature side of the band.
Vanquishing Providence – YouTube
“Divine Irresponsibility” continues in a similar mood, with slower and heavier playing. Here some influences from Godflesh also appear, as well as chunkier riffs that give the song a more direct feel.
From this point on, the songs grow in duration and the band leaves more room for its strange changes.
“Incredible Violence” works as a small return to the more direct side, before “Umbral Spear” opens the game up again.
Here there’s also a guest solo from G.G. of Cosmic Putrefaction, and it really makes you want more of this type of guitar on the album. Nothingness have quite interesting guitars, but they could use more solos and lead moments.
This time the chaos has better control
“Novus Hegemonikon” closes the album with a longer duration and plenty of changes. Here the stranger side of Nothingness returns, but there’s now a better balance between groove, heaviness and the more abstract moments.
That’s also the biggest gain of “Godslaughter”.
Nothingness didn’t throw away their strange side. They didn’t suddenly become a simple Death Metal band. They just learned to make that madness a little easier for the listener.
The first half is more direct and aggressive, while the second becomes slower, heavier and stranger. That difference works well and keeps the album interesting until the end.
It isn’t an album you’ll put on and understand everything from the first listen. But this time there’s more rhythm and more moments that stay with you.
Nothingness keep playing with Death Metal in their own way, adding sludge, dissonance, groove and stranger ideas without losing their base.
“Godslaughter” is tighter, heavier and clearer than “Supraliminal”. And while it may not have that element that makes you return again and again just to discover something new, it has enough power and character to stand out.
Nothingness seem not to want to become a “regular” Death Metal band. And good for them. They just learned this time to make the strange a little more fun.
Tracklist
- Incinerated Immediately – 01:39
- Convulsing Putrefaction – 03:17
- Skull Evulsion – 02:45
- Trenchant Glunch – 04:25
- Vanquishing Providence – 06:42
- Divine Irresponsibility – 06:59
- Incredible Violence – 03:53
- Umbral Spear – 04:41
- Novus Hegemonikon – 06:56
