Review: “Thrown Into The Abyss” by Vølus

“A newly improved sound has taken hold, evolved yet still dissonant and macabre as ever before, but with a dark progressive twist to the songwriting. This newfound direction has enabled the function; to create audio scapes that fill the mind with a dreadful fleeting embrace. The embrace of what it must feel like to be knighted by the damned. A perspective of past and present, Life and Death. The perspective of immortality and paradoxes. The variation and ideas on this record are inspired by many sources such as HP Lovecraft, Legacy of Kain, Robert Bloch, and the Egyptian esoteric” ~ Justin Vølus

There are times when you hear about a person and all that they do and you find yourself asking how? Where on Earth do they find the time to do all that they do? It seems impossible and yet against all the odds it can not be. Justin Vølus is one of those people. Not content with an ordinary life he not only maintains or maintained validity in bands like Putrefying Cadaverment, Psionic Madness, Maggot Crown or Morgue Walker as well as being owner of the underground label Vargheist Records. As if that wasn’t enough to contend with his solo project Vølus is exactly that. All instruments, vocals, lyrics, written, performed, recorded and mixed by the man himself. Literally the only two elements farmed out were the mastering by Will Killingsworth at Dead Air Studio and cover art by Dede Suhita. This second full-length is the follow-up to both 2020’s “Festering Anti-Cosmic Wound” and 2021 EP “Deadstar Illumination“, taking its name from a song that predates both records, written back in 2018 for a demo called  “The Vermin Speak“.

The order of the day is Blackened Death Metal and Justin Vølus serves his vision of the genre as piping hot as the fires of Hell itself. While some multi instrumentalists find themselves a Jack of all trades and a master of none, Vølus is the polar opposite and able to not only deliver but excel on all fronts. The opening hellscape of “Trapverse the Arkhanspire” finds him vocally in the same territory as Will Ramos from Lorna Shore with some seriously blood chilling demonic moments before “Immortal Ninth Tribunal” hammers the nails into the coffin of humanity with the kind of Black Metal drumming prowess that some would kill for. Restless and relentless blasting of the highest order litters these tracks and is performed effortlessly as if it were nothing, “Chronoblast Paradox” being a prime example. Dark and disturbing noises lurk beneath the surface of this chaotic brutality that knows no end or boundary. The white knuckle thrill ride of sonic oblivion shows no remorse with each subsequent abrasion being unbelievably more caustic than the last and drawing more and more blood from your ears. The uneasy feeling bleeds into “The Breathing Reflection“, a blood an thunder cut with a tension you could cut with a knife before the Grindcore inspired “Black Flame of Purification” once again decimates the weak and culls the herd, for the album is not one for those of a meek and mild disposition or anyone faint of heart. Evil, twisted harmonies through larynx threatening dark tales reach their crescendos with the finale of “Ascendance Incinerated” leaving Vølus very much an Alien beast who’s eyes shimmer in the darkness as the last thing you see before you become the prey [7.5/10]

Track Listing

1. Trapverse the Arkhanspire
2. Immortal Ninth Tribunal
3. Antediluvian Watchers
4. Chronoblast Paradox
5. The Breathing Reflection
6. Black Flame of Purification
7. Temporal Pathways
8. Ascendance Incinerated

“Thrown Into The Abyss” by Vølus is out 11th June 2022 via Vargheist Records and is available over at bandcamp