EMOTIONAL VOID

Tunisia is not a country known for its metal exports, and perhaps moreso for the wave of political turmoil that swept up through the region earlier in the year. All the same, it is an Arab nation with a greater metal scene than outsiders may first guess, and hearing the band Myrath, I became quite interested to hear what other gems had emerged from this country. Vielikan is a death metal band from Tunisia, and although they have since released a studio album, this was their debut EP that introduced them to the underground. 'Emotional Void' is a three track offering that introduces the listener to the music of this band, although I will say I have only been partially impressed by this piece as a whole. While sections of Vielikan's music are very good, the raw and sometimes unfeeling nature of the music can lead to an uneven experience.

Vielikan plays the sort of death metal that relies more on heaviness and power rather than its technical prowess. With that having been said, don't expect to have your face melted with mind-numbing guitar solos, or anything of a particularly refined nature. Vielikan's 'Emotional Void' plays a somewhat similar style to early Death, albeit with more dissonance in the guitar chords used. The first two tracks revolves much around fairly straightforward death metal that would be completely generic, were it not for some interesting guitar riffs. The recording of this EP gives no implication that Vielikan was trying to make something refined, instead, 'Emotional Void' is very rough, and in a way that's even a good thing. There are no frills here, just fairly standard death metal with an eerie twist.

The third track 'A Vertiginous Fall' gets Vielikan rolling finally, and all in all, it is a great track that outshines the other two tracks beyond any doubt. Here, Vielikan is using melodies and a more epic construct to the way their music sounds, and it really works well; especially towards the last few minutes of the album, I started getting really into what the band was doing here. Sadly, as soon as it starts getting good, it ends, and the listener is left wanting more of the same melancholic death metal that was heard right before the record ends. Vielikan is off to something of a rough start here as is the case with most death metal artists, but there are a few minutes of great music here that rise above the mediocrity, and sets the stage for much better things in their career.

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