Review by Faithless on September 27, 2020.

Coming from Prague, Czechia Voluptas strikes the catacombs of the underground with their debut full-length called Towards The Great White Nothing. Influenced by a bunch of different music genres and ideas, Voluptas, walks the thin line of traditional black metal sound and an experimental-adventurous trip; mixing sub-genres in a blender of dark psychedelia.

On one hand, the black metal innuendos that Voluptas uses to hit you in the face are the typical ones. For instance, fast tempos, shrieking vocal style, tremolo picking guitars, and some traces of raw/lo-fi production and recording values. What I mean by “some traces” of raw/lo-fi production in the album is that it is not as dirty sounding as other so-called “Trve Kvlt” bands. The black metal parts shown in the opening track 'Crystalline Key' successfully transmit an old school feeling of coldness and grimness in the European vein of bands like Darkthrone and early Ulver.

On the other hand, certain elements are more distinctive from doom bands. Slow chugs and crushing atmospheres. However, those mentioned elements are rather sporadic. For example, in the song, 'Thargelia' Voluptas briefly transforms into a doom band, showing low guttural vocals, dense guitar arpeggios, and an awe-inspiring atmosphere. Subsequently, the band comes back to their original black metal mode, leaving you hungry for more doom inspired passages. Towards The Great White Nothing sounds dark and dismal in general but the doom parts are just sprinkled here and there. The third song named 'Of Gnosis and Agony' changes gears into a more rhythmic, psychedelic, and punky approach. Nevertheless, the rawness of their sound prevails and serves as a common thread between the best of both worlds (traditional and experimental metal).

Then, 'Between Terror and Erebus' returns into the cold Norwegian forests of tremolo picking, raspy vocals, and blast-beats. The closing track 'Desert Twilight' takes from Norway to the Middle East in just seconds. The song starts with some psychedelic Eastern guitar chords that are hypnotic and repetitive, almost like getting you into a trance. Only to be interrupted by the deep gutturals of the singer that lead the song in a different direction again, they have summoned the doom again (just for few seconds but it was glorious). Ok, another shift of sound; now into some tasty black cold and eerie metal. I think this song was perfect to close the record because it mingles all the influences Voluptas brings to the table. The song is a 13 minutes trip into the main influences of the band and gives you a trip to the bowels of hell and back. They even included a saxophone by the end and some jazzy spooky sounds that seemed to go downwards into hell.

Coming back to the first paragraph, I think that Towards the Great White Nothing was a psychedelic trip of traditional black metal spiced up with some doom portions and freaky jazzy random noises. I appreciate the balls that these guys have to experiment with and let their influences take the lead of their music instead of just being a copycat band. However, I was begging for more doom passages to complement the obscurity of the record. The doom parts were rather limited to certain sections of the album and serve as an accessory instead of being more predominant. The same for the jazzy and spooky and experimental parts by the end of the record that even included a saxophone. This record positively surprised me and left me longing for more creative bands like Voluptas that separate themselves from the cattle of “Trve Kvlt” and dive into an adventurous approach. Recommended guys, go and check yourselves.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Carl on July 19, 2021.

One thing is for sure here, they come out swinging right off the bat. There's no dilly-dallying to be found right after you press "play", Carpathian Funeral just fly directly at your throat with their brand of old-style US death metal. Don't you just love that approach? I certainly do.

Their brand of death metal isn't the most original, but it ticks all the right boxes for me. It oozes aggression and feels and sounds familiar right from the start. Their style is pretty straight-forward in its execution: no unnecessary frills or technical wanking, just sturdy death metal in the old tradition of "Vile" era Cannibal Corpse crossed with early Deicide, with the occasional Slayer riff thrown in for good measure. In their mid-tempo sections, the guitar work takes on an older school death metal feel, bringing to mind the earliest works of Gorefest, Massacre and Morgoth. Vocalist Mark Conway had me thinking of George Fisher of Cannibal Corpse, with his throaty grunts and furious screams which complement the aggressive riffing perfectly. This is music for all those who miss the death metal sound of the mid to late 90's. No mess, no fuss, just death metal goodness.

The production leaves some to be desired unfortunately. Where the guitars and vocals sound absolutely menacing, the digital percussion sounds boxy and compressed and hinders the music from really blowing up. The total picture does not sound bad or so, it just sounds ... too nice. And too nice is not what you want from men who have their kids' mothers listed in the "fuck you" part of their thanks list. If the drums would've had more of an organic sound, this would have added more menace to their already volatile mix.

This is a sturdy death metal release that is rooted firmly in the latter half of the 90's. It is aggressive and well-executed, even if the production is kinda lacking in the total picture. Despite its minor flaws I can imagine the older death metal maniac having good use for this album. And before I forget: cool artwork as well, by the way.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10