Origin : Finland
Genre : Funeral Doom Metal
Release : 2022
Album Info / Review
**Shape Of Despair – Return to the Void**
*Phantom Echo Recordings, 2025*
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### 1. Soundscape
From the opening bars, *Return to the Void* feels like a descent into a cavern where the walls echo with distant screams and the air itself seems to vibrate. The overall sonic palette leans toward the ferocious, almost bone‑crushing side of extreme metal, but there’s a palpable sense of spaciousness that keeps the chaos from becoming mere noise. Lush, reverb‑heavy keyboards lay a melodic undertow beneath rapid double‑bass gallops, and the growled vamps are threaded with a subtle distance—like a choir of ravens in a midnight canyon.
The album teeters on the edge of Scandinavian black‑metal ambience and Russian‑style technical death. There’s a steady bass line that never gets lost, working in tandem with the rhythm section to give the whole pack a solid, pulsing foundation. Vocally, the harsh cry is almost more conversational than a scream‑track of the 1990s, crafted to deliver the lyrical shade of desolation without drowning in the din.
### 2. Atmosphere
When you first hit “The Mirror’s Edge,” the ambient layers of wind and distant choirs seem to wake the memories of a forgotten shore—storm‑tossed heights that never truly fall silent. The ambience is crafted not by a single instrument but by a whole sonic architecture that uses sound design tricks: a reversed choir that fades in after an breakdown, a faint hum of a synthesiser that looks like a drowning echo, and a metallic clang that sits just behind the drum kit—as if a gargantuan axe were being sheathed in the darkness.
Every track feels like a doorway into a different segment of an endless void. The wind whistles through the guitar lead on “Lost in a Breach,” the drums hit with a cold, metallic flute, and the hook lines peppered with downtuned, finger‑picked melodic runs emanate a medieval ghost town vibe. It is a good example of how atmosphere can be used to reinforce rather than simply fill a song.
### 3. Riffs
The riffage is the album’s lifeblood. The heavy, distorted themes come with a lot of moving parts: usually a combination of +5 selection and slash chords, always with a contrasting tremolo-picked verse line. The first headbang on “Beyond the Gloom” is emblematic—a low, chugging riff that maintains that raw brutality but is simultaneously melodic when the guitars back off to a slow arpeggio.
A standout moment occurs on “Echo and Gloom,” where the right guitar waltzes around a twin‑lead battle, and the left keeps a steady shredding line. The bass does not take a backseat—instead, it doubles the main riff an octave lower and adds a low‑frequency pulse that ties the entire section together. Each solo is carefully placed: the brutal breakdown on “Wanderer” delivers a full‑bore blast‑beat, while moving to “Drift Through,” it is an earpiece intellectual exploration with modal scalar runs.
### 4. Production Quality
Track cohesion is spot on: the album offers a consistent level of clarity that hasn’t lost its raw edge. The engine of the EP is the master that pads the background noise with an audible seismic effect—no one intends to drown the true sound of the instrumentation. The drums play with a tight splatter effect that takes full advantage of cymbals and snare, but it stays interesting by summing between the high-end and low-end of the frequency spectrum. The guitars focus on a double-channeled Rich Extremities process that brings a warm sustain without a single out-of-tunings mistake.
The mix personally seems to lend some anonymity to the guest soloist, adding an additional layer to the album. The track fades seamlessly from the final chorus of “Lament to Love,” thanks to a particular reverb echo that catches a sense of the peak of each track.
### 5. Overall Impression
*Shape Of Despair – Return to the Void* is a subtle yet commanding approach to contemporary extreme metal. It is a robust fine‑point of sound and structure that could easily fall apart. From the lush hiss of the intro to the final falsetto of the last track, each element has a distinct role that makes the listening experience—despite a dramatic intensity—dramatically abiding. It is a dense, lyrical, and occasionally haunting album. A lot of you who have not heard everything have a beneficial insight into the experience of this alternative version of extreme metal.
This is an album that balances intricacy and rawness while protecting the legacy of those who helped shape it. If you’re ready to dive into some unguided sound design that only hears the unpon density in your space, then this album is a good pick to start an awesome freak?experience.
