The SpiritSounds From The Vortex

Sounds From The Vortex is the debut album of German blackened melodic death metal band The Spirit.

Although formed in Saarbrücken in 2015, The Spirit have harnessed the classic discordant-stained severity of the 1990’s Scandinavian wave of infusing melodic death metal with the coldness and ferocity of black metal. Sounds From The Vortex harks back to the powerful simplicity of this formula, rendered haunting and immersive, yet aggressive and energetic.

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In typical melodic black metal style, Sounds From The Vortex opens with an unnerving atmospheric instrumental title track, before exploding into Cosmic Fear, with classic dissonant riffing and relentless blast beats that give way to a eerily swing-like groove. MT’s vocals are characteristically delivered in a black metal snarl, which together with the crisp but cold production keeps the overall album sound closer to melodic black metal but with the density of death metal.

The Spirit have offered a truly remarkable recreation of a sound that has become historical in extreme metal but certainly deserves its place in modern blackened melodic death metal.

Varying dynamics within the tracks is a standout feature of Sounds From the Vortex and accordingly each of the brief seven tracks is essential and unique. Clouds Of Damnation showcases this, with blackened tremolo over a seductively rhythmic cycle of swelling intensity and receding mournfulness, followed by impressive soloing, ranging from tear jerking to blistering, heralding the next movement of faster aggressive melodic death metal in the second half of the song. The Spirit has brought the best of both worlds to their sound, as one can hear throughout Sounds From The Vortex, but particularly in The Great Mortality, which constitutes the most even rendering of melodic death and melodic black metal in one epically grim musical journey.

The Spirit have offered a truly remarkable recreation of a sound that has become historical in extreme metal but certainly deserves its place in modern blackened melodic death metal. Sounds From The Vortex is undeniably a little gem that moves from strength to strength across its seven-track listing. In the delicate balance of blistering death metal shred and icy blackened fragility, Sounds From The Vortex seems to have all its priorities straight.

STANDOUT TRACKS: Cosmic Fear, Clouds of Damnation, The Great Mortality
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