Vicky
I know it’s been quite some time since I last reviewed an album for you dear people, however not only am I back now, but Catto handed me a dangerously powerful weapon, which is Voidspire’s debut EP, Vacant Towers. So, before we dig into this material, there are two questions I am sure you are already asking yourselves – who are the people in Voidspire and why is their music dangerous? Shockingly, both questions have the same answer: the band is Norwegian and they play death/black metal. I’m not sure where the “atmospheric” part of the aforementioned genres appears in Voidspire’s songs, but according to Encyclopaedia Metallum, these people have a more melodic approach to those genres that I, for one, would have dared to call even… symphonic.
Now that we know a bit more about Voidspire, it’s time to (over)analyze Vacant Towers. For further context, it is worth noting that “vacant” means “not occupied by an incumbent, possessor, or officer” or even “not lived in, abandoned”, as mentioned in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
Vacant Towers’ start is very promising indeed, with “Forpint av Raate”, which our trusty Google Translate informs me ever so kindly, means in Voidspire’s native tongue “Tormented By Rage”. Since the lyrics are mostly in Norwegian, we can only assume they speak of happy things, sunshine, unicorns and sprinkles. However, seriously speaking, even though the band members are only around 25, you’d think you are listening to veterans of the metal field. Beside symphonic/atmospheric death and black metal, you will also come across technical, gothic, and even doom metal passages. Overall, Vacant Towers proves that, obviously, metal is far from dead, and additionally, we seem to be having a pretty good future with bands such as Voidspire taking the lead.
It might be worth noting also that there exists an instrumental interlude (also known as track number three, “Chimes of Ruin”), which is only a bit over a minute long, but features a sophisticated guitar solo that has the capacity to captivate even the pickiest of listeners. Another great feature is that one can actually hear the vocals over the drums, something that has sadly become quite rare in modern black metal. Here I must congratulate vocalist/guitarist Waadeland and drummer Langaas for embracing the traditional and for making Vacant Towers an enjoyable (though awfully short) journey through the exquisite and the shocking. Speaking of which, imagine this – Waadeland’s vocals do not resume to mere shrieks, they explore depths in terms of technique and sound. Therefore, shrieks are very rare and usually combined with backing vocals that we, unprofessional/occasional growlers, call “just your typical death metal-like growls”.
To conclude this somewhat brief presentation of the Vacant Towers which, as I am given to understand, are not for sale but tops for rent or viewing only, Voidspire have certainly convinced me of their potential as one of metal’s best hopes to regain what we have lost in terms of death and black metal as a result of the unfortunate passing of legends such as Chuck Schuldiner, Tomas Lindberg, Per Yngve Ohlin and Oystein Aarseth (you were probably wondering when I’d get to them again), etc. I don’t know about you, but I’m not planning on listening to too much beside Vacant Towers for at least another month from now!
Label: Chaos Records
Release date: November 28, 2025
Website: https://chaos-records.bandcamp.com/album/vacant-towers
Country: the infamous Norway
Score: 4.7/5.0
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