The Elysian Void are a new outfit from Pennsylvania, USA that grew out of Minarchist, with members from Black Crown Initiate, Alustrium and Subterranean Lava Dragon. «A Fatal Conceit» is their first album and it was released independently on August 19, 2026.
Country: USA (Pennsylvania)
Genre: Progressive death metal, technical death metal (mixed vocals)
For fans of: Black Crown Initiate, Rivers of Nihil, Allegaeon, Slugdge, Alluvial, Dyscarnate
Their sound moves along familiar paths for the Pennsylvania scene: sharp, melodic riffs with every tapping and slide you expect from the modern school, clean and dirty guitars tight and focused, with no unnecessary colours. Nick Shaw’s bass supports the heaviest breakdowns, the calm passages and the more prog moments with equal ease, with playing that makes a difference without stealing the show. The drums, programmed, don’t go beyond what the genre leads you to expect.
The most distinctive element of the album is the vocals. Jerry Martin of Alustrium delivers the harsh parts, but the voice you remember is Connor McNamee’s clean one: from the first seconds it has a character of its own, it appears throughout the album and in the finale it is accompanied by female vocals. It is at once its most recognisable and its weakest point, because its melodies don’t blend with the band’s volume and remain like a thorn on an otherwise smooth surface.
Where McNamee is fully justified is in the solos. From the lines of «A Fatal Conceit» and «A Future Discarded» to «Wilt and Wither» and the sweeps of «Last Light», the leads rely on melody and note choice rather than showing off speed, and that is why they stay in your head on the second listen. Tracks like «Sins Of The Father» and «They Bleed All The Same» are held together almost exclusively by them.
The album has all the ingredients of modern progressive death metal — technical skill, mixed vocals, coherence — but it rarely rises above its influences and its best ideas are surrounded by compositions that stay safe. When they find the groove, as on «Wilt and Wither» and «Last Light», they show what they can do. For people who love the Pennsylvania sound there is enough material here, with the leads being its strong card.
See also: Epitaphe – III and Mindwork – Adrift
