Starting life as a series of songwriting foundations by Amenra, Oathbreaker and Living Gate guitarist Lennard Bossu during 2021, it became clear that these ideas wouldn’t quite fit in with traditional Amenra fair. Bossu gathered an eclectic mix of Belgian underground stalwarts to make up what would become Predatory Void. Recruiting fellow Amenra member Tim De Gieter (also of Doodseskader) on bass and backing vocals, Thijs De Cloedt (Cobra The Impaler, ex-Aborted) on additional guitars, Vincent Verstrepen (Carnation) on Drums and Lina R (Cross Bringer) as the lead vocalist, every member has a history of strong contributions to the Belgian scene. Incorporating a wide array of musical interests, from thick doom textures and shoegaze soundscapes to the unbridled aggression of Belgian hardcore, black and death metal, each member of Predatory Void contributed to the songwriting process and drew from a wide pool to craft something utterly unique over the span on seven tracks.
Surging to life with opening track ‘Grovel’, huge walls of sound erupt from the speakers as a monolithic doom riff open the song before quickly breaking into death metal shredding, ferocious blast beats, double kick and Lina’s cutting screamed vocals, Predatory Void immediately make an impression on the listener. Across the opening track, the band play with a wide variance of dynamics, intensities and textures, regularly breaking from the walls of sound and high intensity passages for wide open bridges with clean guitars and eerie soft sung vocals soaked in reverb, invoking feelings of the bands Esoteric and Disembowelment, with their approach of dissonant clean guitars over heavy riffs.
“Each member of Predatory Void contributed to the songwriting process and drew from a wide pool to craft something utterly unique.”
Second track and not only lead single, but the first song publicly released by the band, ‘*(struggling..)’ follows the dynamic and evolving format established previously in the opener. Whilst beginning with an almost inhuman scream and pummelling opening riff, ‘*(struggling..)’ is less intense than the first track, choosing to take a slightly gentler approach and focussing on the slower atmospheric moments with a lot more clean tones on the instrumentation and soft sung vocal passages. Occasionally blending in heavy vocals, double kick and distortion rather than upping the tempo itself to create intensity.
‘Seeds Of Frustration’ acts as the surprising mid-point of the album, with a significantly less coarse atmosphere, yet still incredibly eerie and uncomfortable. This is a purely acoustic track and a well needed break from the upfront aggression of the bookending three songs, almost sounding like it was ripped right out of the middle of a SWANS album. Featuring double tracked acoustic guitars for layering, very light a deliberate cymbal hits and the occasional snare shot on the drums, the bass tone has a little bite to it without overwhelming the more ambient atmosphere of the track, almost sounding like a synthesiser with the way it pulses in the background. Lina’s emotive and haunting clean vocals and lyricism here are the enthralling highlight, lending to the soft, unsettling atmosphere crafted in the instrumental.
Thanks to the recording and engineering experience of band member Tim De Gieter, the production on this album is magnificent. The power behind the multilayered guitars sound massive, the big walls of sound from the distorted tones contrasted and complimented by the beauty of the clean lead guitar melodies. The gnarled bite of the heavier side of the bass and the rich warmth when called upon sitting comfortably alongside the monstrous power of the drums. A wide of array of vocal textures are captured beautifully, from the deep, growling roars of De Gieter’s backing vocals, the abrasive texture of Lina’s blackened screams to the soft beauty of her clean sung vocals, chanting and spoken word passages. The production work is incredibly complimentary of the excellent performances from all members throughout the album, in particular Lina R’s wide variety of vocal styles employed throughout and introspective lyricism into the core of a human being during troubling times.
“The production work is incredibly complimentary of the excellent performances from all members throughout the album”
Album closer ‘Funerary Vision’ is the longest of the seven tracks, clocking in at just under ten minutes, it feels like an amalgamation of all the different elements spread across Seven Keys to the Discomfort of Being. Atmospheric noise bubbles to the surface before leaving just dirty, distorted bass, cymbals and kick drum. A small drum fill introduces the atmospheric guitars and clean vocal chants, some light spoken word and heavy screams are layered together, playing at the same time. Spoken word and lead guitar melody play in time before breaking into the main hook of the song, retaining a haunting guitar melody. Around the halfway point where the instrumental explodes once again into ferocious intensity. Tremolo picked, black metal hooks, furious double kick, blast beats and piercing screams overwhelm before collapsing into a clean guitar bridge with Lina’s heavy vocals. ‘Funerary Vision’ continues to shift throughout the rest of its run time, deliberate playing with rhythmic patterns, crafting a claustrophobic atmosphere. The final moments of the album are the sounds of dissonant guitar chords ringing out as Lina sings her final lines.
It would be easy to just point to various moments throughout the track list and hear elements of the musicians other works, the Amenra feeling of the lumbering riffs of ‘Endless Return to the Kingdom of Sleep’ or ‘Shedding Weathered Skin’, the black, death and thrash influences of Cross Bringer and Carnation on ‘Grovel’ and ‘The Well Within’, the blending of emotive hardcore and black metal atmospheric elements of Oathbreaker. However, this would be rather reductive of what Predatory Void have managed to achieve.
These moments are seamlessly woven betwixt one another across the whole album, shifting mid-song in a constant state of flux between these various states. Whilst sharing a lot of the same energy and ethos as Oathbreaker, Predatory Void operate from a more caustic and aggressive place. Where Oathbreaker were more subtle and tender in nature, Predatory Void are more of a wild flurry, chaotically clawing at the walls and changing states when it sees fit. Seven Keys to the Discomfort of Being is a merciless and thoroughly impressive debut album, beckoning the listener to explore the darkness within over and over again.