I find it somewhat amusing that I watch and admire so many bands abroad that I often overlook those in my own state / country. I have seen the band name often enough in zines or flyers, but I was never aware that they are from Southern California. That is completely my fault, because I didn’t realize I have a more deathly ATHEIST and / or PESTILENCE (“Spheres” era) here in my own backyard. Now that is some lofty accusations, some may say, but trust me, I feel I’m warranted to say this upon delving into their latest release via 20 Buck Spin. I will admit I’m not a huge fan of technical Death Metal because, at times, it’s more of an exploration of expertise than emotion. Sorry to offend those fans, it’s just that to my ears, three chords can blow me away so much more than 30 chords. So, having said that, and alienating much of my readership, I feel VOIDCEREMONY tow the line but only just barely. The music is, or can be, a bit hard to get into. There are plenty of moments that are grimy and guttural old school Death Metal, where you think “Oh, that’s cool!”, but above it all is that predominant musical exploration. That changes the pace of what you would normally expect when listening to Death Metal. For myself, I find this a bit distracting, and while I completely appreciate the musicianship involved, it’s hard for me to latch onto things. On the other side of the coin, fans of GORGUTS, HORRENDOUS and OBSCURA will totally eat up what the band is setting out to do. I say this because at times, there was some interesting instrumentation and tones happening. Yes, they caught my ear, but my headbanging stopped. See what I mean? Some bands will play a solitary riff and structure a whole song around it, whereas VOIDCEREMONY just about throw everything at you but the kitchen sink. I do find it remarkable as well that, with all the auditory assault on your senses, it is kept at 30 minutes of playtime. Because, believe you me, you will come away wondering how the band manages to fit this all in and make it work. But then again, if you are attuned to this type of thing, this is just another day for you. Now, granted, the band is semi-local homeboys and also giving respect for their technical prowess, I did find the songwriting interesting overall. I initially had a similar reaction when listening to DEATH’s “Human”, I was like “What’s going on here?!”, but I’ve grown to accept and embrace that album for the game changer it was in that space in time. Maybe I will be of the same thought in a few years for this particular release. Despite me being a big crybaby, you all should check this out for yourselves. www.facebook.com/voidceremony, www.facebook.com/20buckspin