It's been a short while since I last had a one man band's record to review, and they always impress me with the breadth of their skill and knowledge, I know that I could never produce anything close to the standard all these talented people put out. Today we have VOIDHRA, the child of Chris Horseblood, and their debut release "Sorrow Guides Us All". The 6 track studio album is set to deliver some brutal Black Metal. The artwork is an interesting affair, its not your stereotypical Black Metal cover but it is alluring.

Opening record is "Intro A Coming Storm" which sets a nice ambience, building gradually throughout before "The Swarm" erupts into life. A congested and busy tracking that really does give the effect of a swarm moving around you as you are listening. The vocals are brutal and hard hitting. But there was just something about the drum tracking that I couldn't quite put my finger on, something wasn't sounding quite right and it slightly detracted from the quality of the rest of the music for me.

The titular "Sorrow Guides Us All" has are quality introduction. The musicality of the opening riffs is just superb, and if I would do anything differently, I think a little bit of reverb could add a really cool misty atmosphere to the music, but that is more of a personal taste thing. Again, the vocals are impressive, the flow and structure are impeccable and the track is just hitting all the right notes with me. "Fields Of Bleak" is a nine minute epic, the rolling music and seamless flow makes listening to this an absolute joy. It is one of those tracks that you need to listen to through a set of good headphones; just let the music wash over you and allow yourself to be immersed in it, being dragged into the depths of it's darkness. In an almost strange way it's actually quite comforting!

"Hour Of The Serpent" is another solid track, it combines the smooth and steady stylings that we have seen throughout along with some of the more typical Black Metal organised chaos to deliver a pulse raising track that needs to be heard live! Finally, "Farewell" closes the record out, and it is a display of everything that is good about this album. The melodic instrumentals, the guttural and emotive vocals and the structure (honestly, I am so impressed with all of the tracking's structures, I feel it is something so simple that can often be overlooked). It takes the record out in style and in a way that the listener will be waiting for their next hit from VOIDHRA.

Overall, "Sorrow Guides Us All" is a cracking album. The music was solid and well produced (my only gripe was something with the drum tracking was just distracting me slightly, I can't quite get my finger on it though!). As I said at the start, I always find myself amazed with the quality that these guys putting out the one man band releases do, and VOIDHRA was no exception. Superb.