Album Review: Nothingness - The Hollow Gaze Of Death
Reviewed by Rick Eaglestone
Following on from the bands most recent release at the start of this year, Minnesota’s Nothingness apocalyptic debut 'The Hollow Gaze of Death', originally released in 2019 sees an LP release for the first time.
The albums opener ‘A Cycle Unending’ starts off with some dense atmospherics which quickly transcends into modern death metal sounds with some intense parts which collide into ‘Abyssal Woe’ with an element of precise terror.
One thing that has stayed the same with this new format release is Brian Hoffman’s nightmarish artwork for which ‘Iced Over Ash’ perfectly fit’s the aesthetic as it is easily the most maniacal offering so far, Barclay Orson’s vocals in particular are shattering. The annihilation then continues with absolutely no respite for ‘The Wretched Ground Beckons’ which is underpinned with some subtle Morbid Angel sounding tones.
As the album moves into ‘Wickedness in Purity’ the band collectively aim to completely decimate the listener, for me personally this is easily my highlight track, everything seems to fall into place effortlessly and even among the absolute unrelenting tempo there are some really nice death doom elements that pair nicely.
Showing that slower can still be as sinister is penultimate track ‘Adorned With a Crown of Contempt’ which stays at a consistent swamp infested slither before ‘Timeless Menace’ concludes with one last glimpse of the nightmarish universe Nothingness have constructed.
I am really glad that I have had the opportunity to rediscover such a well put together debut which sounds just as current as the bands follow up release 'Supraliminal' being able to now play them together consecutively it is great to hear just how well they compliment each other. I also like the fact that there are no remasters, no re edits and that the original release stays in its original putrid form.
