Intending to document their skull-first journey in access of the corrupted Seelengrund as locus Ramon, California-based progressive death metal quartet VOIDCEREMONY return for an altogether refined and ever-searching third full-length album. Leveraging shoulder-to-shoulder density within increasing brevity ‘Abditum‘ may very well take some time to bloom in brain as its myriad call for dilation and constriction of extra-scalar forms is a thrill but an abruptly demanding event all the same. Here they’ve righted their ship in some sense, taken command of its wandering soul at any rate, accessing both classicist handling and freshly inventive interplay which’ll take keener-eared musos some time to sort in mind while still bossing their own channel of warped shred.

VoidCeremony formed between Garrett Johnson (ex-Archaic Mortuary) and original guitarist Jon Reider (Ascended Dead) around 2013. While their first few EPs are worth checking out the real breakthrough for the band centered around high-rate guitar work, serpentine riffcraft and some fresh possibilities unlocked by (then) session work from Damon Good (StarGazer, Mournful Congregation, et al.) per the band’s debut LP (‘Entropic Reflections Continuum: Dimensional Unravel‘, 2020). It was fairly raw and scrambling record in terms of its pace and render, only prone to one or two moments rest per song, but they’d built something unexpected beyond prior releases which’d reflect ‘old school’ death metal sans the ‘Independent Thought Patterns‘ treatment given by that first record.

Their second LP (‘Threads of Unknowing‘, 2023) brought in Phil Tougas (First Fragment, ex-Zealotry) to co-write and share vocal/guitar duties with Johnson, leading to plenty of super loud shred breaks kinda overtaking the vibe. It was yet a clear refinement of performance over their raw and cavernously set debut. I’d rated both of those albums extremely highly at the time and was definitely hyped for each but over the last couple of years I’ve not found myself returning to the second LP more than once. Something about it feels at-odds with itself upon return… a feeling which doesn’t plague the equally well-contained ‘Abditum‘ in any sense where it no longer feels like a hundred threads are firing scattershot for the sake of virtuosic warp, well, at least not all the time.

Beyond the late 90’s high fantasy video game intro screen worthy start (“Inevitable Entropy”) we are greeting by odd chord changes in nauseated pendulous swing as “Veracious Duality” begins wrenching loose its spiraling and contracting core groove. While one could obviously feel the StarGazer fueled change-ups coming several of the runs which develop within the ~third minute stretch both within and out of bounds beyond the ‘Unquestionable Presence‘ informed logic of expansion and contraction we find in a majority of ‘old school’ coded prog-death. While that opening piece is a devourer and a ranting barrage worthy of a few passes-thru on repeat the dual-rhythmic clash of “Seventh Ephemeral Aura” and claw-handed stretch of its mid-song freakery (esp. ~1:33 minutes in, gearing toward the solo runs) pull the ear forward. I’d seen this piece as a refinement of some of the core ideas behind ‘Threads of Unknowing‘ and one which cuts in and out with its major impact without anchoring in one given motion, plus I suppose if you’re missing the shredding of that record bits like “Dissolution” reprise that same effect.

Speaking of peak Atheist not only does this album feature that band’s touring drummer (Dylan Marks) but its ~30 minute run is similarly tightened, brief and unwilling to repeat itself into droning circles (re: “Despair of Temporal Existence”, “Silence Which Ceases All Minds”.) I don’t know if every song here has that level of impact, there is an obscure death metal band carried within these all-pro performances after all, but as they scratch through key points of depth over on Side B such as “Failure of Ancient Wisdoms” it does feel like their thread has been tightened away from excessive drawl and toward less congested slightly more expressive arcs accordingly. What this constitutes on even the most passive listen is ear catching jazz fusion tippled shredding, drum solos, and I’d say less of an outright prog-metallic bass guitar tone. Despite some disappointment with the lack of the Tupperware burped bass sound as a major feature the greater effect is more of a rush and less of a cerebral entrapment served by VoidCeremony‘s vortex.

For my own taste the best progressive death metal albums create their own dilation of time through immersive, emergent threads which are inherently connected to the death metal genre. In that sense VoidCeremony‘s acrobatic density is welcomed and easily enjoyed, it may not make taffy of my skull in exactly the same way that ‘Entropic Reflections Continuum‘ had half a decade ago but still manages to walk the same jagged path. The intensity of closer “Gnosis of Ambivalence” is probably the best argument for this beyond the opener, a ramping toward absurd levels of speed and high-count note service where even the bass perks up a bit here and there. Sure, the Symphony of the Night worthy outro (“Elegy of Finality”) that closes ‘Abditum‘ is tonally odd as closure but after a few rips through the whole album it only adds to the composure of the full listen.

While I’m not sure we’ve gotten a full-bore masterpiece from VoidCeremony just yet ‘Abditum‘ is the band’s most tautly writ and polished point of performance. It is a vision of dark and introverted progressive death metal which should carry broad enough appeal to cross the rift between tech-handed snobs and classic prog-death metal enjoyers without any concessions made. Otherwise such a densely packed-in series calls for many repeat listens by default. Wheeling through this record takes no time at all with so many details, erratic swerves, and high speed ejections firing off many are easily missed ’til you’ve inducted into the greater thread’s eccentricities. A very high recommendation.

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