Prepare to dive into some abrasive realms of death metal, courtesy of the good people at Cosmovore! They are a German-based outfit, dealing in some serious low-end grit, and that is about the size of the story as far as this EP is concerned. Into The Necrosphere is 26 minutes long, four tracks, and all venom.
You just have to look at the cover to know that there is some abstract menace grafted to this project. The music is a bewildering entity intent on speaking fully for itself. As far as I can tell, the band and its members maintain a high level of anonymity. Upon diving into Cosmovore‘s world, we get nothing but the album’s artwork, the EP’s four songs, and the ominous sense of peril attached to all of the above.
Choosing to provide no more context beyond that, the EP begins by fading into a thunderous riff signalling a prevailing barrage of heaviness, unprepared to subside until the closing moments of the final track. Opening song “Into the Necrosphere” tells us everything we need to know about Cosmovore. Alongside their arcane ability to create thunderous death metal of the modern variety, they also manage to incorporate a haunting narrative, which elevates their sound beyond regular rustic ideals and into higher realms of sinister creativity.
Dare I say that the opening song is the most accessible in this regard? By the time we reach “Vessel” and “The Watchers”, the album’s second and third track respectively, the atmosphere and the nightmares it conjures intensify. It’s just the kind of mental preparation we surely needed before the finale of “All-Devourer” gets underway, a number that opens with bone-crushing ambiguity and then sets off with deathly resolve. Strip away the layers, and you’ll hear a lot going on in that track…
In fact, there is a lot going on throughout the entire record. The talent, as provided by whatever forces lurk behind Cosmovore, is to unify it all under one dark, noisy banner. The guitars, the percussion, and those dueling vocals of high and low pitches all fall into one concentrated channel. While it’s sufficient to listen closely and pick out the impressive talent utilised in the instrumentation (and trust me, there are a lot of cool hooks to be heard), it might be the intent for us to simply get lost inside of it. Forms are meaningless, time is abstract, and Into the Necrosphere serves as your guide through the spiral.
On dealing in such potent purity, Cosmovore leave a very notable impression. We may not know more than what they have given us, but those who enjoyed their fearsome sounds can surely look forward to what comes next. Into the Necrosphere has the works: it’s loud, fast, dripping with atmosphere, and is also in possession of a stark sense of self. For 26 minutes, you can tumble into the recesses, and that might be all you need to become an attentive follower in their ranks and lie in wait for what the band offer up next. Going by the merits of this initial EP, it could be something very special.
