SPECTRAL VOICE's "Sparagmos" unfolds as a momentous second full-length offering under the banner of Dark Descent Records, marking the culmination of a period devoted to katabatic immersion into the material. The title itself, alluding to the Dionysian rite of being torn limb from limb, sets the stage for a profound exploration of life, death, and the untamed essence within. "The content of the album oscillates between lamentation and exaltation. An immersive, morbid atmosphere of funereality longs for the liberation of death and mourns the agony of life. Coupled with moments of frenetic madness, grandeur, terror and ecstasy, the point we are trying to get to is the moment in which - through sacrifice - atavistic wildness is unleashed, and the ultimate exaltation of life through death is realized.”

 “Be Cadaver” is first. The opening tones are heavy, lumbering, and crushing, like the music is trying to do to your very soul. Dissonant and very dark, the harsh vocals underscore the feeling of pestilence and death you get with the music. As the song continues, the sonority changes, taking the listener over and under bridges while Death rides along side at all times with his scythe drawn. “Red Feasts Condensed Into One” is much faster and I daresay more chaotic at times, and the groove it settles into is horrid, and the acrid stench of death remains. The lead guitar notes are like weights, dragging the listener down under deep water, and although the pacing varies, the heaviness of the song stays ever-present. For the listener, it’s akin to more worries being piled on top of more worries, until they feel overwhelmed at the prospect of facing any of them.

 “Sinew Censer” is another discordant and filthy offering. At times, the notes are so low, that the strings on the guitar and bass seem to reverberate forever, and the standing water at your feet goes from thin and cloudy to thick and altogether black. The lengthy “Death’s Knell Rings in Eternity” closes the album, and what a fittings song title it is. I picture being blindfolded and led through endless tunnels, all the way, the air keeps getting warmer and warmer until it is downright stifling. You captor stops, and takes off the blindfold, and you find yourself staring at the cavernous site of the gates of Hell itself. All of the excuses and all of the pleading are no match for the sight, and feeling of what you are witnessing sinks into your stomach like a rock.

Overall, this was a wonderfully horrid album in every sense of those words. If you walked into the listening experience freshly showered, you will need to clean yourself again because the amount of filth it departs on you sticks on you like a cloak of death. Do not look for absolution here, for none can be found.