Cadaveria – Emptiness (Review)

Cadaveria are an Italian metal band and this is their sixth album.

Cadaveria play a form of metal that combines elements of melodic death metal and black metal with heavy and Gothic metal, resulting in songs that mix heaviness and atmosphere.

The music is well-written and delivered. The band take a foundation of aggression and build on this with melody and atmosphere. This frequently results in very engaging and compelling songs, taking strengths from dark metallic guitars and potent catchy choruses. Whether it is meaty heavy riffs, fast blackened hostility, moody Gothic atmosphere, or a range of other styles, moods, and paces, Cadaveria show that they can handle all of the material here well.

The singer has a very capable harsh rasp that she uses very well and this largely forms the basis of her performances across the songs. Her clean singing voice is especially impressive though, as it drips with presence and emotional weight. They’re frequently blended together too, to great effect. The singer’s voice is entwined remarkably well with the rest of the music, which wraps powerful melodies around it to enrich the power of the songs further. The music as a whole is well-constructed and written to not only make the most of her great voice, but to also simultaneously exist in its own right; if you were to take away or ignore the vocals, (which you wouldn’t want to do, of course), the music is still strong.

Emptiness is a very enjoyable album that I find very easy to like. With good songs that showcase a decent amount of diversity of influence, the 54 minutes of this album, (58 minutes with the bonus cover track), just fly by. If you have a taste for well-crafted blackened Gothic metal, then make sure that this doesn’t pass you by.

Very highly recommended.