Review: Voidlurker ‘Industrial Nightmare’

Voidlurker call Birmingham, England home, and the grinding industrial weight of the city’s bleak history weighs heavily on Industrial Nightmare. The weight of their home town’s musical legacy is also undeniable, and this new four track EP feels like an encapsulation of both influences. Having recently visited the home of Sabbath, I can see exactly where this dark and miserable music comes from… It is out now through APF Records.

The churning riff that opens the album is a thing of murky, dense beauty. Drowning in fuzzy guitar tones, the elephantine groove is unmistakable and the tortured snarl of frontman Brad Thomas is the perfect accompaniment to the crushing apocalypse wrought from his guitar.

Low end is also a speciality of Voidlurker, as the bass heavy density of Jeffrey Doomer feels like if Kyuss lived in an urban sprawl and had a heroin habit. It’s also incredibly infectious, and immediately prompted me to repeat it again and again.

Industrial Nightmare is teeth-rattlingly heavy, and anyone who likes testing the foundations of their home should get this and turn it up to 11…

The Electric Wizard-esque intro to Rotten Seed is glorious, as is the bleak rumble of closer Bitchcraft And Misery, which returns from their debut demo. Sadly there’s no sign of that demo’s other killer track Ravenous but hey, we can’t have everything. Be thankful that we have this though.

You’ll struggle to find a more potent three piece in the sludge/doom genre than Voidlurker. They appear to have little interest in reinventing the genre but have a vested interest in keeping it as heavy as possible. The mammoth groove that strides throughout is simply stunning, and I can imagine live they would be a sight to behold.

Industrial Nightmare is teeth-rattlingly heavy, and anyone who likes testing the foundations of their home should get this and turn it up to 11.

Label: APF Records
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram

Scribed by: Sandy Williamson