Germany, Extreme Metal. I quite often think that they go hand in hand... I mean theres even an amazing festival Wacken Winter Nights, you may have heard of its bigger brother, a certain Wacken. BLOOD TORRENT, a four piece band from the South West of Germany have been active for 22 years, and they have just dropped their newest album "Void Universe" and today is my chance to sit down and check it out. The artwork is an interesting take on some classic art, with maybe some more modern nuances thrown into the mix too. Its certainly... interesting.

Opening is "The Renascence" (for those of you unsure, it is another term for Renaissance). Its ominous, and seem to be an introduction that builds continuously over its length before "A Knowledge Of Light" bursts to life. And I am just living for these sultry riffs, just rolling over and over again. The vocal line, was slightly surprising to me, and whilst it might not be what I was expecting, it fits seamlessly in. But this is a great firs proper track, it has a bit of everything, including some seriously nice guitar breaks!

"Void Universe" keeps rolling through some great tracking, each one providing some really awesome, and dare I say it groovy Black Metal. "The Cosmic Breakdown" is one of my favourite tracks because it just flows so damn well, the more I listen to it the more I find myself just reclining in my chair and rolling with the music, just getting swept up into it. "Prisma" is another great example, the tracking just hitting all the right notes, and the structure is just natural, nothing is forced in there. Umping back a little bit, "Necromass" gives us a taste of some blended elements from traditional Black and Death metal (maybe Blackened Death Metal?!) and the parts plucked really complement one another. The intensity is as seen in other tracks but it really just makes me want to get up and throw myself around the room.

Overall, this is a really nice album. It is a great blend of two of my favourite sub genres and as I alluded to earlier, I think that this is done superbly. The tracking is put together well and the production is pretty much flawless. Any fans of Black, Death or even just some Extreme Metal then be sure to get BLOOD TORRENT on your radar and into your library.