Inspired by a random image of murder and its representation of the most deeply socially engineered among us London, England-based death metal quintet VACUOUS present their sophomore full-length album drenched in the humors of victims left behind, experiencing future-shock between the callous vanity and traumatic overload of modern existence. A glom of inspiration taken from pure death metal and far beyond ‘In His Blood‘ nearly reframes the groups impact and voice entirely, conveying a loss of humanity through a broad-minded take on their previously classics-minded heft. Along this intentionally ulterior path these folks make a decent argument for their own ideation of contemporary death metal through echoic howls, loudly chunking ground-out riffs and a fair deal of atmospheric grime applied.

Vacuous formed as a trio circa 2019 between guitarist Michael Brodsky (Thundering Hooves), vocalist Jo Chen, and their original bassist though their work didn’t pick up steam ’til the global pandemia hit and writing intensified during 2020. The band’s focus is described as death metal from the point of view of folks who “grew up in the 2000’s” and this translates to something initially moodier, freely formed without consideration for sub-genre tropes but rooted in classic death metal sounds nonetheless. While that all sounds interesting on paper they stood out from the rest of the UKDM underground by not taking on a heap of moshcore style on their debut LP (‘Dreams of Dysphoria‘, 2022), instead offering a succinct introduction to Incantation-esque crawls set within their own curious atmospheric drift. I’d rated that first record highly though there’d been nothing so wildly standout about that album that’d suggested they were ready for the big leagues, only that there was an interesting point of view and strong production values in hand.

Looking like an Unsane-inspired noise rock band via their choice of cover art/font but sounding like the first Sonne Adam album gone deathgrind on the opener/title track (“In His Blood“) Vacuous don’t make any sort of usual first impression upon arrival, screaming bloody murder and whiffing a set-aback lead as the cacophony begins. Percussive, dirtied up bass guitar tone and cracking hardcore punk whipped drums form a basis for a fast moving blur of growls and a swinging high energy death metal movement to start. This is pure kinetic energy, a noisome opener which is appropriately loud and ugly in its representation of where ‘In His Blood‘ anchors its aggression. There is no real relief from this punkish tromping ’til “Stress Positions” finally begins to chill around ~2:26 minutes into its pole positioned intake, slowing to a death-doomed crawl and slow-kicked out. For a half hour record they’re both bashing through these pieces and taking their time hitting upon anything the average death metal might find memorable, the excitement is there but the urgency is slow built upon introduction.

The worst thing that Vacuous do on this album is hardly a faux pas in terms of death metal attuned sub-genre follies or unconventional choices made but the inclusion of spoken parts/samples used on “Hunger” and “Immersion” take otherwise inventive, roughshod atmospheric ideas and removes their repeatability with recordings of sociopaths speaking. While thematically sound these are irritating distractions in each case and feel like arbitrary inclusions for the sake of something post-metal feeling in the midst; The best thing that these folks do on ‘In His Blood‘ is develop a broad set of riffcraft around their uglied up rhythm guitar tone, a buzzing and organically scuffed-up voice which is heavily emphasized by its sheer volume and force. “Public Humiliation” is probably the best showcase of the softest and heaviest extremes of said guitar sound and their work in general within the death metal realm.

Referencing a tragic human smuggling incident from a few years back “Contraband” is essentially post-punk inspired song given to Vacuous‘ noxious death metal sound, coming across as a distempered alternative metal song in the process of unfurling its simple rhythmic progressions unto dark metal intrigue. Without going completely off-rails here there was definitely a moment where I wasn’t sure if Vacuous were going for The Chasm or… some manner of death/groove metal with the mess of “Immersion” where blown-out spoken samples, simple chunk riffs and such began to push me away from the initial interest I’d found in approach of this album. Side B nearly slapped me off the pot right at peak immersive value for the sake of trying a few things that just didn’t generally work next to the more incremental change offered elsewhere on the full spin. Otherwise album closer “No Longer Human” offers some redemption, further characterizing ‘In His Blood‘ with atmospheric guitar accoutrement and a sense of surreal dread provided by sleepily incorporated synth/keys.

‘In His Blood‘ does well to balance active modes of aggression with apocalyptic dysphoria which goes on searching for meaning throughout the full listen. While this amounts to a record that is variously engaging and a bit lost in the chaos of violence depicted these folks have put some admirable guts on display here in trying something far less “safe” than their debut LP. That said Vacuous are still yet to be defined here from my point of view as the ability to be somewhat amorphous leaves the possibilities wide-open, now potentially speaking to a different demographic than before. Still, there is a wild death metal adjacent sound here worth exploring further even if I’m not entirely sure what to make of their not wanting to pick a lane outright. It certainly isn’t a boring departure from where these folks started though I’m not sure ‘In His Blood‘ clears the fence in terms of creating undeniable connectivity from its permutations of death metal-based intrigue. A moderately high recommendation.

---