Some of Blood Torrent’s excursions do work. The album has the same problem macroscopically, with songs ending abruptly mid-idea (“Elemental Scorn,” “Necromass”) and industrial interlude “Raised Knives” seeming entirely out of place. This is made all the more jarring by the stylistic variety on display, which makes the quality of the transitions even more mission-critical. Transitions between sections tend to be abrupt (“A Knowledge of Light,” “Necromass”), with unrelated melodies sometimes showing up after lazy pauses with little semblance of continuity (“Prisma”). Blood Torrent often struggles to cobble together disparate ideas in a cohesive way. If my description makes Void Universe sound disjointed, that’s because it mostly is.
Drummer Grandur shines throughout, by injecting variety when the riffs drag (“A Knowledge of Light”), driving songs forward (“The Strive”), and taking the limelight with infectious hi-hat shenanigans (“Decay and Transformation”) and Vital Transformation-esque prog drumming (“Prisma”). The vocals also come out of left field, with H.A.V.O.C.’s lead vocals sounding like the guy from HeXen, while Erebos’ vocals on “The Strive” are a carbon copy of Skwisgaar Skwigelf. The crew lays down a hodgepodge of doom riffs (“A Knowledge of Light”), NWoBHM guitar solos, and Elder-drenched stoner jams (“The Strive”), interspersed with more energetic black metal. Blood Torrent incorporates a hodgepodge of other influences, navigated by guitarists Erebos #14, Rahl, and H.A.V.O.C., whose stage name seems expressly designed to balloon my word count. It resembles first-wave black metal but doesn’t thrash as hard. Many listens later, Void Universe is still an enigma. Blood Torrent’s sophomore release Void Universe comes after a ten-year gap and aims to do just that. We get lots of promos that cite early-90s second-wave bands as influences, but it’s rarer that albums purport to revive their mid-80s ancestors. German first-wave black metal enthusiasts Blood Torrent agree. But there’s a special place in my heart for bands that foreshadowed the development of extreme metal while keeping one foot firmly planted in their thrash or NWOBHM roots, like Sodom, Venom, and Slayer. I wish I’d been around to witness classics like True Blue Somewhere in Time, Madonna Peace Sells, and Like a Virgin Scream Bloody Gore in the flesh.
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