Nightfly I’m a bit of a fan when death metal and doom collide, especially when the balance is in favour of death metal as the combination of the two seems to provide some of the most crushingly heavy music. Lords Of Death, the second album from USA five piece Temple Of Void proves to be a case in point.

I’ve not had the benefit of hearing the debut album from this Detroit band – something I must put right, but if it’s half as good as this I’m in for a treat. Lords Of Death features eight songs (including a short intro and a mid-album acoustic interlude) of some of the heaviest music I’ve had the pleasure of listening to this year. After the short instrumental The Charnel Unearthing, Wretched Banquet kicks things off proper and alternates between a slow grinding riff and a more up tempo one. It’s pretty intense stuff and a strong statement of intent as to what you can expect. A Watery Internment is equally good featuring a slow tempo that also has plenty of groove. A mid song lull of cleaner guitar parts not only add dynamics, but also serves to heighten the drama when all hell breaks loose again. If you’re going to release a short album (34 minutes here) it had better be damn good with no weak moments. Fortunately that’s the case here as each subsequent song keeps the quality high making picking favourites almost pointless.

The key to this albums strength lies in the mighty riffs which are for the most part incredibly strong, placing bludgeon above complexity. They give Incantation a run for their money which in the best possible way completely pulverise the listener with their thick dirgy sound. Aided by a sympathetic production they really crush as does the rhythm section which has a great in your face organic drum sound and bass that has the presence to really cut through. Mike Erdody’s low guttural growl is a perfect partner to all the ferocious instrumental work here.

I’m a bit late getting round to reviewing this one but better late than never I guess as I can’t think of an album of this sort of doom infused death I’ve enjoyed more than this in 2017 and one that’s sure to make my top albums list when we do the end of year poll shortly. Definitely a band to keep an eye on.