Predatory Void – Seven Keys to the Discomfort of Being (Review)

The congregation of the Church Of Ra never ceases to amaze. There is so much talent and it feels like we haven’t even dove that deep into this well of neverending, outbranching musical excellence. This time Lennart Bossu (Amenra, Oathbreaker) together with Lina R, Tim De Gieter (Amenra, Doodeskader, Much Luv Studio), Thijs De Cloedt (Cobra The Impaler) and Vincent Verstrepen created another project Predatory Void. So what is to expect from the newest Church Of Ra iteration?

Take the atmosphere of Amenra, the vocal ferocity of Oathbreaker, OSDM-riffs and you got a vague image of what Predatory Void unleashes onto the listener. The whole record feels like falling off a cliff into a jagged darkness. It gets darker and darker the more you are falling. Sometimes you hit a lot of edges, sometimes you’ll just feel the blackness rise and squeeze life out of you until the inevitable bottom comes.

“Grovel“, “*(Struggling)” and “Endless Return to the Kingdom of Sleep” set this album off raging, pounding and singer Lina is on the brink of everything on those tracks. The great thing about this opening salvo is that it is not only thrashing, it catches you off guard with clean vocals (“*(struggling)“), pulls and pushes you all the way, without letting the listener get to comfortable. Sludge, Black and Death Metal build the musical triangle he or she or everyone in between is kept in.

“Seeds of Frustration” is the calm freefall in the middle. Just like the calmer moments on the Oathbreaker albums. Mostly gentle guitars accompanied by Lina’s voice before the second half of the album sends you into a bleak oblivion.

“The Well Within“, “Shedding Weathered Skin” and “Funerary Vision“, the closing triplet of Seven Keys to the Discomfort of Being is more on the Amenra side of all the aforementioned influences. Like an ever-growing forest fire it slowly burns everything in its way. “Funerary Vision” are the final meters before the “fall” of this album comes to a haunting closure. 9,5 minutes of aural armageddon.

Seven Keys to the Discomfort of Being is yet another great pillar the Church of Ra is expanded on: the number followers will surely rise and the congregation will flourish.

Fatum nos iunget, always.