10th March 2025

Review: “Celestial Procession” by Void Revenant

Recorded and mixed by Shauny Cads (Vircolac, Partholon, Burning Realm) at Last Light Recordings in Dublin, Ireland before mastering by Colin Marston (Agalloch, Gorguts, Imperial Triumphant) at Menegroth, The Thousand Caves in Queens New York, “Celestial Procession” is the debut EP of Void Revenant. They say a picture speaks a thousand words and the cover artwork by Adam “Nightjar” Burke is a fine example, the anticipation of interstellar Progressive Death Metal with Science Fiction Horror themes from the five piece enough to make you want to listen at first glance.

In truth the style of Void Revenant is a little harder to pin down with the band openly flirting with Black Metal and Technical Death Metal elements during opening cut “The Oelisk“. Throat shredding vocals from Kevin O’Connor tear through the lyric sheet to set the scene, his demonic death growls giving the track a brutal edge but they’re just the tip of the iceberg. As the track plays out the brilliance of the drumming from Evan McGuigan becomes ever more apparent, nuanced fills and tempo changes giving another dynamic to the menacing and sinister oppressive atmosphere. The guitars meander and muse, wandering through the wilderness of space with complex rhythms in elegant tones, avoiding the spine juddering moments and instead painting a darker picture equally horrific but a little less violent than one might expect. Blood gargling vocals continue into “Abomination“, whispered moments in the mid section adding a haunting touch to a cut that attacks in waves. Staccato riff breaks and chugging set an ominous and foreboding scene, the depth of the lyric sheet demanding forensic examination once the ringing in the ears subsides. Experimenting with something a little more avant-garde “By The Abyss” takes the bull by the horns and pushes the extremes every which way but loose. More sinister whispers add to the evil nature of this beast as earworm riffs bleed into a fleeting yet stylish solo. Roots in 90’s Florida Death Metal are briefly exposed before the battery acid nausea of some unhinged guitar sounds, this tale of The Thing in space as nasty as they come. Yes the recording is a little rough around the edges and raw sounding but that is a thing of beauty when it comes to material like this, adding charm in abundance. The only issue with this is that it leaves you wanting more [8/10]

Track Listing