Void Dancer

When a new band emerges, there is a sense of anticipation of how they will execute their sound. It’s been more than 50 years since the inception of metal, and, honestly, it’s quite a challenge to reinvent the wheel at this point. Though it can be a bit of a bummer when checking out a new band only to discover they are merely copying and pasting the wheel, leaving you feeling….”meh” about them. Seattle quintet, Void Dancer, by no means are reinventing the melodic death metal wheel nor are they a dull, uninspired version of it. However, they are shining it up, adding some polish, and even spicing it up with some nice accoutrements.

Their debut LP, Prone Burial, is a cohesive blend of progressive metal and melodeath at its core. There is more depth within where heavy groove, black metal, and even moments of alt-rock are interspersed, creating a variety of moods. Void Dancer are able to execute this well without the music sounding aimless. Highlights include the beefy alt-rock intro to Blood on the Rung (think Smashing Pumpkins with double bass) diving head first into a neck-breaking groove, and the hypnotically harmonized choir in To Sleep Astray that leads into a filthy, black metalesque passage.

Having Jamie King (BTBAM, Scale the Summit) mix and master the record was the exact element Void Dancer needed to curate such a full, marbled sound. Whether it’s the simultaneously savage and serene guitar tones, the tastefully precise yet non-overbearing rhythms from the drums, the audibly warm bass textures, or the mesmerizing cleans juxtaposed with fire-breathing screams; Prone Burial has an almost calculated fluidity to it where the 32 minute run time breezes by without recognition.

They say your first impression is the most important one to make. In Void Dancer’s case, they have made a solid impression in the metal landscape. Often times bands get caught up in the game of one-upsmanship; whether they are striving for more speed, more heaviness, more technicality, it’s never enough. Prone Burial is not over-indulgent whatsoever. It’s heavy when it needs to be, but the songs are also allowed to breathe and flow naturally. If Void Dancer keeps crafting wheels like this, then they will spin for a long time.

Click the links below to check out the album for yourself!

Bandcamp - YouTube - Apple Music - Spotify 

By: Amber Elkins