BLOOD PYTHON slithers back into the heavy metal fray with the Norwegian one-man project's third full-length record, Voidseeker. M. Horn is credited with all vocals and instrumentation on a record that is bursting with creative, fun, and energetic tracks. Coming in at a svelte 36 minutes, the record almost seems designed to be enjoyed at full blast with the windows down on the road to nowhere.
The laid-back vocal stylings make singing along a requirement and are dripping with a foggy atmosphere. A couple of tracks in the front of this record specifically beg for repeated listens. "Death on Four Wheels" and "Voidseeker" get the album off to a thrashy quick start. The synth elements on "Voidseeker" particularly stand out, elevating an otherwise standard track into something much greater. Later in the record, thrashy grooves are a little harder to come by, with the synth more in the foreground of the tracks. The funniest example of this comes from "Divine Electric Doom," a name that does well to describe the sounds found within its song.
The only strong critique I have of this record is the short length. The record features a fair amount of focus on ambience with an intro track and some sections of almost spoken-word portions which feel better positioned in a longer album in order to serve more as an interesting change of pace instead of bleeding some of the runtime. Some listeners may struggle with the tonal changes.
I find this to be a unique record in a genre where sameness is often rewarded. I can see a possible future with albums steering further into synth territory, though I hope BLOOD PYTHON continues to put out diverse offerings showcasing all of the creativity emanating from M. Horn. I am surprised to say this is on my way-too-fucking-early album of the year list (Reviewers and stupid AOTY lists, smh).
TL;DR (here for a good time, not a long time — 9/10)
Promo provided by Metal Message.
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