January is always a strange month for new music as albums will drop, are loved, and then usually become an afterthought by July. Having said that, the sophomore release from Minnesota’s own Nothingness, entitled Supraliminal (Everlasting Spew), is the grimey death metal that will revisit my earholes for months to come. The overall sense of dread on some of the tracks is an added bonus as I do enjoy heavier music with some feelings outside of anger and brutality.

 

Supraliminal kicks right off with a short, but effective build-up to a groovy bass line and guitar riffs. There is a bridge that slows things down a bit before exploding tremolo-picking guitars and blast beat drumming. ‘Horrendous Incantation’ has a more old-school feel that hits all the nostalgia notes but also sounds fresh. Nothingness provides plenty of groove and rhythm to headbang and throwdown in the pit throughout the album, but this one stood out specifically.

‘Beacon of Loss’ is one of those tracks that has a ‘doom-and-gloom’ feel as the guitar riffs express the pain in unison with Barclay Olson’s vocals. It is not until the last minute and a half do the blast beats from the drumming really kick in either but are relatively short-lived so as not to take away from the emotion that was established from the first second of the intro.

 

There is truly something for any death metal enthusiast on Supraliminal. Speed, brutality, nostalgia, and a little bit of dread/sadness sprinkled in to keep everyone honest. In addition, it really says something when a second release of a band hits the mark after a debut that really sets the bar for every release afterward.

 

Nothingness clearly has a vision of what brand of death metal they have to offer to the scene and this is hopefully the beginning of a fruitful discography.

Buy the album here:

https://everlastingspewrecords.bandcamp.com/album/supraliminal

 

7 / 10

TIM LEDIN