Sepulcher - Veins of the Void (2024)^{Release ID: 49728}

Norwegian thrashers Sepulcher are back with their first release since 2018's well-received Panoptic Horror album. Veins of the Void is a sixteen-minute EP, featuring three tracks, Derealization, Cryogenic Sleep and the title track. The production has the band's usual pseudo-lo-fi feel - it isn't actually truly lo-fi, it is as if they deliberately want to give their sound a garage band aesthetic, whilst still using a modern recording set up. I'm not an expert on the genre, but I guess Sepulcher could well be tagged as a stenchcore band with this crusty production and the thrash, death and trad metal genre fusing on show.

Opener Derealization starts off with a looming, sludgy feel with a quite infectious riff before alternating between fast bursts of deathly aggression and lethargic slower-paced moroseness. Middle track Cryogenic Sleep is the shortest track here, running for a touch over two and a half minutes, and is a slice of adrenalised crossover thrash with an energetic fast tempo and a bouncy, punky riff to it. In truth that is the only track with any significant thrash content. The title track closes out the EP and has a deliberate, sludge-like pacing with a chunky riff, a quite groovy drum track, a weird guitar melody and Andreas Fosse Salbu venting his frustrations at all and sundry with his pissed-off, shouted vocals.

Whilst no classic, this is reasonably interesting and with a fair bit of it running at a slower tempo than usual I'm not sure if this EP is signalling a change in direction for Sepulcher, or if they are just clearing the decks ready for the next full-length.