Album Review: Reincarnated - Of Boötes Void Death Spell
Reviewed by Sam Jones
For this record, we’re going somewhere completely unique: Thailand. The country isn’t especially renowned for its extreme metal output, but once in a while you get a band that releases a record that draws eyes to them; Thailand’s Reincarnated is the example in this instance. Formed in 2017 out of Bangkok, Reincarnated stylise themselves as a death/doom metal outfit having dropped this first Demo, The Alpha Echo, back in 2020. Already, just two year down the road, the band are preparing to release their first studio album with the title Of Bootes Void Death Spell; a title that I simply couldn’t take my eyes away from. So, knowing I was about to receive a death/doom act from Thailand, I went in extremely eager to see what I would make of this album. I’ve always got a soft spot when metal bands emerge from nations that aren’t usually associated with extreme metal.
The general guitar work is the usual affair: downtuned guitar riffs that are solid yet still loose enough for us to feel the depths of despair the band are looking to reach. However, what aids their soundscape all the more are the vocals. There are only five tracks throughout the record, so the band need to do what they need to very quickly to set in some kind of impact. Having a vocal delivery that’s as crushing as it is near-ghostly, is extremely effective. The vocals on this record come across like they’re emanating from some dark cavern, you can literally feel the reverberations of the echo running from the darkest pits of the record to your ears. The band aren’t merely instilling the sense of doom into you as any other death/doom record may attempt, you genuinely believe the nightmare the band are unveiling here. By pushing the vocals back just a touch in the mix, it’s enabled the guitar to remain at the forefront of their sound without it overpowering the vocal work. As a result, the vocals feel intrinsically laced into the songwriting where one cannot be untied from the other.
But it isn’t just conventional instrumentation the band employ here, as throughout the album you may find the haphazard inclusion of synthesiser elements that do not look to provide a harmonising atmosphere. Instead, when they’re implemented, it’s to evoke something older and more ancient than doom records often imply. Reincarnated’s doom is spectral in this respect, nigh on Lovecraftian without the band hammering such an idea into our heads themselves. The synth work implies the vastness of spacetime and our own insignificance, especially with an album named Of Bootes Void Death Spell; a legitimate cosmic phenomena void of any such starlight and matter. If anything, such moments bring a new aspect to the band that we may otherwise have not received from other acts: terror. There’s a real underlying thread of horror coming from such synth work and it’s because we can follow each note along as it meticulously maps out where it’s going. The fact that the horror is laid out for us to follow is eerie.
Reincarnated’s riff work also differs from many doom acts in how their riffs actually hit us. Death/doom bands can wildly differ on how their riffs operate; some bands prefer a devastating, faster approach; other bands choose the churning and harrowing form of delivery. Reincarnated, on the other hand, opt for a more direct approach. Their tone allows for a more realised and outlined form of guitar attack. The pace at which they play may vary but the impact is all the same. The guitar work never feels like it’s going through us, it’s forever hitting us head on. As a result, their sonic assault feels much more real and believable; the songwriting is far more tangible and only increases our immersion into this album. That’s just as well as Reincarnated’s track listing comprises songs of longer length so they need to ensure their audience aren’t going to stray too far from where they need their attention to be.
But what completes this level of immersion if you ask me, are the drums. Brilliantly the choice was made to give the drums the same resonance as the vocals and riff work. Had the drums comprised of a tinny aesthetic, it would have seriously gone against the overall theme this record was vying for. By keeping the drums on the same aesthetic as the rest of the band, it ensured that this record would have a totally unified and rounded-out atmosphere where extremely little is going to pull you out of that immersion achieved early on in its duration. What’s more, the drums aren’t just pounding away or delivering the depraved sounds expected from a death/doom record; the drums, during their faster phases, aren’t simply looking for speed but they’re applying this rolling effect to their sound. There are occasions where the drums take on this rolling thunder effect, whereby it’s applied to the underlayer of the riffs so that they don’t directly conflict with the riffs and our ability to coherently follow them. As a result, the band are creating a more realised and fuller album for fans to experience. There doesn’t seem to be any holes left unfilled within this record, everywhere you look there is sound and something happening to fill any remaining voids.
In conclusion, while this album may not have a slew of tracks for its running, it achieves a sound that, amongst death/doom, could prove difficult to top. The band’s approach wasn’t to try and create the most disturbing and crushing guitar tone they could manage, but to evoke a sense of nightmare and cosmic invalidity and I would say the band achieved this to wild extents. The implementation of sporadic synth work really establishes a haunting vibe we haven’t seen from many death/doom acts this year, elevating the band’s presupposed onslaught to one with horror looming close at hand. The way the band petered out their record with shorter tracks also gives alleviation to the audience who have been through a few longer pieces, ensuring fans they don’t need to trudge through longer tracks for the entire album, slowly allowing us to disengage from the record should we desire another playthrough of it. I thoroughly enjoyed this album and am very glad I managed to review it; Of Bootes Void Death Spell is a terrific and terrifying death/doom album that excels where other acts of similar ilk have fallen short.
