Video Premiere: Nothingness – “Curse of Creation”
Death-doom act Nothingness really works as a unit, the different players in turn shifting their own rhythms and tones to create a dynamic but cohesive sound, especially in its disobligingly groovy first minute. While the doom doesn’t keep my attention as well as the death does, it’s still some pretty good death-doom doom. There are just enough little flourishes to keep things engaging, and the vocalist really knows how to give shape to a line. This one’s a shower and a grower.
This group of goofs from Minneapolis has done some really smart writing here. The song starts off with a catchy, genre-agnostic little boogie of a riff that falls seamlessly into a deep death metal groove. For the next minute and change, that groove mutates up and down and all around the phylogenetic tree of death, different licks and drum patterns and even a jurassic chug coming into and out of being. The way the band plays around this theme is so satisfying and flows so naturally—riff salad this is not.
Out of this, the band transitions into the doom side of their death-doom formulation, and they do it so seamlessly that I had to keep rewinding the video to pin down how it happens. More abruptly comes a dissonant, chaotic blasting. After the song comes unspooled in a frenzied solo at the end, I find myself surprised that that sublime groove from the beginning never reappeared. I want more of it, but I respect the decision not to wear it out. The rest of the song’s good, but the first part’s really good. If 2019’s The Hollow Gaze of Death is anything to go by, there will be plenty of groove to be found in the band’s future endeavors.
You can preorder Supraliminal (out 01/20/23) through Bandcamp and Everlasting Spew Records!
