4 out of 5

Label: digital, self-released

Produced by: Buster Odeholm (mixing, mastering; Fire); Léo Cën Watremez (mixing, mastering; VOID)

Just to be clear, the B-side of this release – VOID – is not the same ‘Void’ as was released in… 2017, but is the same VOID (all caps) that was released as a standalone single December 2023. Probably obvious with the styling, but I got excited that we might have three iterations of a name out there. Oh well.

That said, the Fractalize djent magic continues to remain strong with the new A-side I Gave Them Fire, which smartly pairs with VOID’s buffs to the band’s formula of chilly harmonic chugga-chuggas and pounding drums and metallic riffage via some atmospherics and intense time changes. Fire leans heavily on the former, which is appreciated: I could listen to the group pacedly bashing their instruments for hours, but I love how some patience and ambience ratchets up the tension that much more, even in a relatively short, sub-2 minute track like Fire. It also gives the song some runway to build things up then break them down in its final thirty seconds or so.

VOID is a triumph of bleakness, which pushes the aforementioned time-changes to the extreme, in an early Pelican-esque fashion where it almost seems accidental… except for how much control the group has.

The slight downside of putting these songs together is that VOID doesn’t really play well with others, existing as a straightforward slab of rock; it doesn’t really have a “conclusion.” Fire is more well-rounded, but I suspect because it’s short, the band felt it better to offer a twofer.