{"id":126248,"date":"2025-09-09T23:04:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T23:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/126248\/"},"modified":"2025-09-09T23:04:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T23:04:09","slug":"review-terravoid-the-death-engine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/126248\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Terravoid – The Death Engine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Published by Cory<\/a> on September 9, 2025September 9, 2025<\/p>\n

\"\"Artwork by: Oliver Palmquist<\/p>\n

Style: Avant-garde metal, progressive metal (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Arcturus<\/a>, Voivod, Thy Catafalque
Country: Sweden
Release date: 5 September 2025<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a legend about a legendary album. Talking Heads\u2019 magnum opus, Remain in Light, closed with an uncharacteristically slow and brooding track called \u201cThe Overload\u201d\u2014in strong contrast to the funky, energetic style that otherwise characterized the album. The press reported that frontman David Byrne wrote the track in an attempt to mimic the style of their momentum-gathering contemporaries, Joy Division. But here\u2019s the catch: Byrne had allegedly never heard Joy Division. The song was said to reflect what Byrne imagined the band sounded like simply from reading reviews of their music.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This tale is probably apocryphal, and \u201cThe Overload\u201d doesn\u2019t sound all that much like Joy Division in any case, but it\u2019s the first thing I thought of when listening to Terravoid\u2019s debut LP, The Death Engine. Why? Because the album sounds as though Terravoid did the same thing, but with the cosmic, darkly theatrical style of Arcturus. Seriously, its general aura somehow manages to nail how I\u2019d describe La Masquerade Infernale and The Sham Mirrors while not sounding like either. And unfortunately, in this hypothetical, it seems as if the band got totally lost, decided to fill all remaining space with nothing but chromatics and off-the-shelf metal riffs, and called it a day. The result is a mostly grating combination of circussy avant-garde, progressive metal, and a touch of thrash. The Death Engine has no muffler, and you can certainly hear it run.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Taking a quick step back, Terravoid describe their brand of progressive metal as one for fans of Nevermore, Strapping Young Lad, Voivod, and John Carpenter, the budget-squeezing filmmaker and composer famed for movies like Halloween turned The Thing. I couldn\u2019t tell you where the band pulled the former two acts from, but influence from the latter two can be heard among the Arcturus\u2013ish sonic foundation. The Death Engine is full of cartoon-like synths and other haphazardly programmed elements sitting somewhere between spooky and spacey, and vocals that are categorizable as clean but best described as monotonous shouts. Meanwhile, winding riffs lean heavily into chromatics, breaking free occasionally to offer a more comprehensible albeit clich\u00e9d metal or thrash passage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sometimes, this all comes together in an oddly charming way. The questionable vocals play well into the overtly theatrical \u201cCharades,\u201d which builds around a hypnotizing melody while the song\u2019s notable drum performance changes up the rhythm enough to keep things interesting. Indeed, the drums stand out across the album. The straightforward bridge and guitar solo in \u201cThis is Not Yours to Embrace\u201d also lands well after launching out of the fraught, noisy section preceding it. Similar can be said about the solos in \u201cThe Most of Your Concerns\u201d and \u201cPlacebo Redemption.\u201d As far as musicianship goes, The Death Engine is competently done.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, even after several listens, if you were to drop the needle almost anywhere on the record, I would have no idea which song is playing. Every single track spends most of its time repeating a slight variation of the same, abrasive, chromatic-filled riff behind the same, abrasive, flat vocals. The texture and mood hardly change, and the dynamic range is severely lacking. The sparse atmospheric passages (like those in \u201cObsolete Conformity\u201d and \u201cThe Death Engine III\u201d), guitar solos, and stock metal riffage aren\u2019t exactly inventive, yet I desperately latch onto them like a hole-ridden raft in a raging sea. Simply put, The Death Engine is a rough listen\u2014and not in the interesting, dense, provocative way avant-garde can offer at its best. The grating repetition and tone are simply too much to bear.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To end on a positive note, not all is lost for Terravoid. The fact that something about The Death Engine immediately evoked thoughts of two classic Arcturus albums, even if bastardized, hints that there\u2019s some potential for the band to hone their sound, improve their songwriting and programming, and deliver a compelling, atmospheric avant-garde album. I\u2019ll be keeping a curious ear out for their next release. But until then, it\u2019s safe to say The Death Engine won\u2019t be powering The Progressive Subway.<\/p>\n

Recommended tracks: Charades, Placebo Redemption
You may also like: Grey Aura<\/a>, Anarch\u00ff<\/a>, Frore 5 Four<\/a>, Dreamslain<\/a>
Final verdict: 3\/10<\/p>\n

Related links: Bandcamp<\/a> | Facebook<\/a> | Metal-Archives<\/a><\/p>\n

Label: Liminal Spaces Distribution<\/p>\n

Terravoid is:
\u2013 Oliver Palmquist (vocals, programming)
With guests:
\u2013 Mike Wead (guitars)
\u2013 Emil P.W.S. Holmgren (drums)<\/p>\n

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