UMUR "The Looming Spectre" is the first official demo release by Danish death/doom metal act Dead Void. While Dead Void are based in Denmark, two of the three members are actually British, while the last member is from Norway. The demo was independently released in January 2018. The material was for the most part recorded live in the studio in October 2017. The band had recorded the "Rehearsal Demo 20/03/17" demo in March 2017, but they count this as their first "proper" demo release. "The Looming Spectre" is bookended by another rehearsal demo ("Cranial Demonstration" from August 2021), so this was their only studio demo release before being signed for the release of their debut full-length studio album "Volatile Forms" (September 2022, Me Saco un Ojo Records).

The demo features four tracks and a total playing time of 33:22 minutes, so it´s quite a long demo release, but Dead Void aren´t your average 3-4 minutes vers/chorus act. Instead their compositions are generally long, slow, gritty, and doomy. This is filthy, mean, and raw sounding death/doom metal, which at times lean on the ultra slow pace of funeral doom metal, but also occasionally speed up with some faster sections. It´s actually quite varied for the style, which is a great strength to my ears. One other strength is how good Dead Void are as creating ominous pitch black atmospheres. The vocals are deep and quite aggressive growling, which suits the instrumental part of the music perfectly.

If I should mention an influence it would probably be Autopsy, but Dead Void are decidedly more doomy and while they are filthy, the filth and unpleasant nature of the music, come from another place than what we´re use to hearing from the US legends. The sound production is raw, abysmal, harsh, and unwelcoming, but it creates just the right atmosphere for this type of material, and let me make it clear...this may be unpolished and savage sounding, but you´re able to hear every detail of the music without trying too hard. Bottom line is that this is is a very well sounding demo release, and it could just as well have been released as an official EP (or even album considering the length of it). A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.