Album Review: Xenotrone - Into The Void
Reviewed by Matthew Williams
I must admit to being a tad confused when I had my first listen to the debut album from Ukraine’s progressive thrashers Xenotrone, as it appeared to be all over the place. There were bits of riffs here and there, that when put together, made absolutely no sense. So, I walked away, came back for a few more listens and it confirmed to me that… yes… it was insane but in quite an enjoyable way.
The trio from Dnipro, were formed in 2021, by Kostyantyn Roskosenko (lead vocal/guitar) alongside drummer Danylo Soulreaper. Several musicians have passed through the band since, but they have Vladyslav Vatt’ghern on bass and they deliver one hell of a performance throughout the record.
With the instrumental title track starting off the journey, “Into the Void” proves to be a microcosm of what it set to come, before the craziness of “Evolution of Soul” kicks in. The bass sound is exquisite, and in parts reminds me of Voivod, as the band draw you into their “atmosphere of cosmic horror”. It has all the hallmarks of a concept album, without being one.
I found myself hearing intricate jazz notes at the beginning of “Tower of Madness”, which is a terrific song, as the pace is relentless, and proves how well thought out the tracks are. The band wants to remind us “that within the vastness of space, humanity is but dust” and the instrumental “Elysium” has that far away yet spellbinding quality to it, as if we are all just floating in the ether.
The exceptionally titled “I Have no Mouth and I Must Scream” is something that will resonate with lots of people, and it plays out gloriously. Roskosenko destroys all in front of him with his vocal musings which don’t detract from the supreme musical composition on display. The style of progressive thrash is in full affect here and it’s a joy to listen to. “Conatus Ad Deliciendum” is where the bonkers nature comes at you from all angles, but I find myself smiling whilst listening to it. It feels as if they’ve taken pieces of many genres and combined it all into one song, and it works so well for them.
Then we have the first of two guest appearances, with fellow Ukranian Orphun appearing on the exuberantly titled “Luminous Fast Blue Optical Transient” (yeah, I have no idea what it means either) but it’s an immensely enjoyable instrumental soundscape, before Kelly Shaefer joins them on “Stone Cross” for another slab of frenzied music.
The song that intrigued me most when I first saw it, was their cover of Nirvana’s “Territorial Pissings” and it is as chaotic and over the top as I expected and wanted it to be. They end their journey with “Bootes Void” which is over seven minutes of cosmic enlightenment, played out in all it’s glory. As debut albums go, you can feel the fury and the mad genius entwined as one, and this will earn them many new fans in the process.
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