VOODUS Open the Otherness [CD]

Although a seemingly new name, VOODUS' history stretches back to 2004 when the band was known as Jormundgang. Under this banner, the band first released a few demos and then an album for the well-respected Christhunt label in 2014. Sensing the need for a fresh outlook, they changed their moniker to VOODUS and began sharpening their knives. And carved from these blades emerged the 2015 EP, NightQueen, subsequently followed by the Serpent Seducer Saviour 10" in 2017.

However, it was the release of VOODUS’ debut album, Into the Wild, which put the band’s name on the international metal map – for good. Released to widespread critical acclaim in November 2018 by SHADOW RECORDS, Into the Wild was indeed aptly titled. Here, VOODUS honed their craft to its fiercest and most finessed essence, taking the listener on a wild and winding ride through the murky depths of starkly melodic yet crypt-pure black metal. Not one for short measures, VOODUS’ debut album clocked in at 61 minutes, which were as electrifying as they were epic.

Keeping apace with those grandiose ambitions, as well as a desire to expand the dialect of pure-and-proud black metal, VOODUS return with an equally epic two-song mini-album, appropriately titled Open the Otherness. Clocking in at 25 minutes, Open the Otherness proves that VOODUS have more artistry going on in a mere two songs than most bands do across their regular “albums.” Indeed, the band’s artistry becomes ever bolder here, canvassing a wide landscape of sensations and atmospheres within these two equally electrifying epics. Both tracks bring together VOODUS’ now-characteristic meld of melodic riffing, tension-inducing marches, and spiraling violence, with a pronounced emphasis on narrative flow and, especially, daresay-soulful lead work. It’s a sound still staunchly rooted in the 1990s, but aiming for more – and more of “more,” if you will. Not for nothing is this mini titled Open the Otherness…

When so much black metal is about restriction (or at least restraint) and conservatism, it falls to the vanguard to broaden that language in a respectful and reverential manner. VOODUS hereby summons you to Open the Otherness!