Murky waters, deep forests, and gray skies encompass the land that is known as Birmingham, Alabama, home to the American Blackened Death Metal outfit, ECTOVOID. Replacing their blue denim with black leather, these headbangers rose from Birmingham's darkest reaches to produce something grim and gloomy, yet fast and brutal, unleashing forth a evil power in an attempt to stand out from numerous bluegrass and country groups, if not sink them into the gray muck.

ECTOVOID was originally formed with members from BLOATED CARCASS and CONDUKATOR, filling the void and moving forward with their own creative endeavors. From the emptiness left by the 2 groups came something more refined. Not long after their formation, the band signed with Hellthrasher Productions and went on to make 2 full-length albums and release a live feature in between.

"Dark Abstraction" is ECTOVOID's 2^nd effort, right after "The Timeless Abyss". It's also the last thing they recorded with their founding guitarist, Michael Stewart, who died of epilepsy-induced asphyxiation earlier that year. Our condolences go out to ECTOVOID and we're happy to give a good, long listen to "Dark Abstraction", which is quite possibly the band's most ambitious feat to this date. Though the record was originally released as of last year, they re-released it on a 12" vinyl in 2016. It's our obligation to pay our respects.

ECTOVOID isn't just simply Black Metal, nor are they wholly Death Metal, but a mix of the two, melding together the speed and technicality of Death Metal, while infecting it with the unholiness and drab doom of Black Metal, never too strong with one side or the other, but rather, standing in the middle ground where the musicians find themselves at home. Their vocalist, C.B. (Chuck Bryant), fiercely belts out deep gutturals while rumbling an even deeper bass guitar, matching in pace to the works of their late guitarist, Michael Stewart. Stewart's guitar was complex and swift for the most part, but its tone had a depth more cavernous than that commonly found in Death Metal, adding a sort of massive, bottomless grind. This pitch normally benefits the doomier, slower riffs, and works well for the band's music, but some of the lower leads can be a bit difficult to track. This could easily be brought forth with a little sound engineering without sacrificing the overall effect. Finally, C.M. (Chris McDonald), their drummer, equally matches the methods of the guitar with driving, impeccably-timed beats that, though generally are in 4/4 time, are almost polyrhythmic, creating a vast, musical adventure in their clouded underworld.

One of the biggest problems with bands that specialize in a particular style is sticking to it all throughout an album, which can make things a little stale. Yet, ECTOVOID avoids this problem beautifully by turning the knob between Black and Death in a smooth transition. Some songs lean a bit more in one direction or the other, and the length of "Dark Abstraction" isn't terribly constrained to one repetitive style. Tunes like "Obscure Altars", and "Visions of Reflective Decay" start out fast and brutal, but the album slows a little to more Black/Doom metal with "Precipice of Absolute Chaos" and "Rituals of Hallucination". As we progress, the band blends the two together until the end, exemplifying exactly what ECTOVOID is working toward and clarifying their overall purpose, something that isn't made as clear to me in many musical efforts.

"Dark Abstraction" was a great production by ECTOVOID; definitely something worth as a re-release, no matter how underground they are, especially as a way to remember the late Michael Stewart. The album transitions well between two slightly different styles until they merge together into something natural to the band's mode of performance. The production is rough, and though this is something normally customary to many Black Metal groups, it doesn't really do the group justice, as the drums can be a little drowned and ring too much at times, while the guitar is also a bit low. Bringing them forth a little higher and tighter would greatly emphasize the songwriting while still retaining that abyssal sound.

Nonetheless, "Dark Abstraction" is filled to the brim with raw power and dark energy. Though ECTOVOID has lost a good member, they have tons of potential and a bright future in a bleak world.<