Today, Blood Harvest Records sets August 28th as the international release date for Gutvoid's striking EP, Astral Bestiary, on CD, 12" vinyl, and cassette tape formats. The physical release of this EP is an appetizer for Gutvoid's forthcoming debut album for Blood Harvest, which will be precluded for a special digital single on June 12th.
Gutvoid hail from Toronto, Ontario and quickly set to work on their first public recording. While Astral Bestiary is indeed the quartet's first recording, the members of Gutvoid collectively contain a wealth of experience within Canada's extreme metal scene, and it duly shows in the EP's eldritch-yet-fresh attack. Ominously swarming, churning forth with world-eating Metal of Death that devours the listener whole, Gutvoid traverse a wealth of compositional territory within the record's three-song/24-minute runtime, dragging that listener across fetid slime and bestial grind, funereal doom and industrial-sized stomp, and even catchy headbanging parts...before the sinister slipstream takes that listener under, with all finality. To their credit, the quartet evade so much of the riff-less murk characterizing nowadays "sepulchral" death metal; if anything, Astral Bestiary maintains a refreshingly clear aspect, allowing every note to ring true and terrorizing. But make no mistake: this onslaught is literally MASSIVE, in every sense of the word.
As a leadup to Gutvoid's imminent debut album for Blood Harvest, the vinyl version of Astral Bestiary will include the digital single "Forbidden City Beneath the Crypt" as a special bonus. Hop on their bandwagon now before it's too late!
In the meantime, stream Astral Bestiary in its entirety
HERE at Blood Harvest's Bandcamp. Preorder info can be found
HERE . Cover and tracklisting are as follows: