Void Forger - Ruined Demo

I got contacted ages ago by Volodea (drums/vocals), from Romanian blackened-sludge band Void Forger. Ruined is there first three track demo. I've been completely blown away by the level of quality coming out of Easter Europe at the moment, because as you know, I've been repping Ukrainian solo ambient black metal band Moloch, but it's great to see the Eastern European scene exploding. This demo was releases in April 2012 digitally and via a limited run of 51 awesomely packaged CDs.

Tracklist:-

1. Pointless Media
2. Relief
3. Automation

Void Forger open up with that characteristic ringing feedback on Pointless Media, before doomy riffs kick in. They have a slight thrashy tone to them and thanks the recording, make you think your right in the room with them. The vocals are decidedly evil, with the same riff being played underneath in a drone like fashion. The crash of the drums and especially the cymbals bring a sense of chaos to the otherwise controlled music. Void Forger present some great ideas in Pointless Media. There are some great changes in pace and guitar effects, which add to the doom inspired groove that makes up most of the song.

Relief starts with a bass guitar intro and has a very different feel to it. It's faster and actually has more black metal influences mixed within in. The vocal growls are also lower and Void Forger produce more introspective moments in the opening bars of the song, preferring to major on more instrumental passages. The volume that the song is played at helps to bring out some of the subtleties in Void Forgers sound, and while some people may find the sound a bit muddy, it certainly makes them sound more authentic, which really suits this style of music.

Final song Automation is the longest song of the three here and it's also unsurprisingly, the doomiest. The drums beat a slow pace and the guitars march along in a dirge of snail-paced riffs. There's not as much treble in this song, apart from the odd ringing guitar effect. There's a real hoedown about 4 minutes in, with a great rhythm and some crazy guitar sounds providing a whirlwind of sound. The bass is then left to play underneath one final tranche of ringing feedback before the final grooving passage is played out.

Such is Void Forger's music; you have to take multiple listens to appreciate all that's on offer here. There's an undoubted quality about their music and one, which will no doubt develop as they move forwards. I for one, am really excited about this band and I really can't wait to see how the progress.

Void Forger have put this demo up for streaming and free download on their bandcamp page below:-

If you want a CD copy (if there are any left), you can get in touch with the band via Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/voidforger.