Review Summary: A muddy and threatening death metal throwback
The fascinating thing about The Lurking Fear’s
Out of the Voiceless Grave lies in its ability to deliver musically on the outrageous song titles. When you have track names like “The Cold Jaws of Death” or Tentacles of Blackened Horror” you sure as hell better deliver the goods – and the death metal supergroup do just that. From the moment
Out of the Voiceless Grave opens with a gloomy creak, the album expertly mimics the themes at hand. The chaotic “Vortex Spawn” is a noisy, angry whirlwind of death metal – just the first of many tracks to knock you flat on your ass. With members of At the Gates, God Macabre and more, it’s not surprising the album is a ruthless concoction of Swedish death metal.
One can’t deny The Lurking Fear are masters of their craft, but that doesn’t stop
Out of the Voiceless Grave from being a bit repetitious at times. They do a good job beating the hell out of their instruments, but it’s the rare moments they tap on the brakes that carry the most intrigue. “Upon Black Winds” unexpectedly closes with a brief, but eerily effective piano melody, while “The Infernal Dread” makes a haunting impression with church bells amidst an ancient graveyard. These moments are few and far between the relentless execution, but they do a nice job breaking up the monotony and giving the album a stronger creative edge. The problem is, there's no arguing the experience could still be better with a few more of these alterations. Nevertheless, while it’s certainly been done before,
Out of the Voiceless Grave is a cool death metal throwback with just enough minor tweaks to keep it from feeling stale. You can expect huge, filthy riffs and gnarly growls backed by a murky atmosphere, just don’t expect anything terribly original or groundbreaking. Sometimes, though, riffs are enough – like when you’re a death metal supergroup in 2017 and your primary goal is to deliver a crushing, ‘90s-esque death metal album. I’d say The Lurking Fear did exactly what they set out to do. With songs like “Tentacles of Blackened Horror” and “Winged Death” swooping in with a demonic force, they can be forgiven for their lack of originality….and their knowledge of riffs.
