VOIMATON (USA) – ‘Profane Vestige’ CD

VOIMATON arrive with their full-length debut, Profane Vestige. A grand summation and culmination of all the prodigious promise shown by those short-length releases, Profane Vestige is everything a debut album should be: an encapsulation of the recent past plus the pursuit of new realms. To be sure, the hulking VOIMATON sound is alive and well here – caveman riffing given gnarly twists, clobbering breakdowns that break apart, a sweltering dampness of atmosphere – but it’s the songwriting itself which shows the massive strides the band have made since their formation. True, much of the album comprises earlier tracks, but here they’re given their fullest elucidation, twisting and turning with tension and unease, keeping the listener fully unsettled during the album’s 40-minute duration but never forgetting to CRUSH them every step of the way. It’s a classicist death metaller’s dream record: well within their boundaries of pure ‘n’ proud tradition, but skewed just enough underneath (and above) to make it stand out.