Review by Dominik on January 1, 2026.

If you've been following the news lately, you could be forgiven for thinking the world has been reduced to two ongoing experiments in endurance. First, the never-ending stream of nonsense, verbal compost and cerebral waste products that Mr. Donald continues to distribute across social media. A man who appears to suffer from a tragic lack of insulation between his solitary brain cell and his mouth. The other is the increasingly heated debates surrounding artificial intelligence and whether it represents salvation for mankind or harbinger of our eventual replacement. Compared to Mr. Donald at least the latter occasionally shows signs of intelligence, even if it's artificial. Which brings me, quite surprisingly, to a black metal band from Sweden known as Voodus. Given Sweden's reputation as one of the most digitalized nations on the planet, I found myself briefly wondering whether I had for the first time listening to metal stumbled upon a band that was less flesh-and-blood and more code-and-algorithm. I am aware that Voodus predates the first usable AI systems, but their latest album, "Emanating Sparks", exudes a strangely artificial, constructed aura that is difficult to ignore once you've noticed. Unfortunately, not in a futuristic, boundary-pushing way, but more like something that has been carefully assembled from a well-labeled archive called "Swedish black metal, approved elements only".

Where the band's moniker likely isn't intended to mean anything concrete and seems intentionally vague (the obvious closeness to "voodoo" seems to be too obvious), it still sounds appropriately sinister and atmospheric. Unlike certain orange-tinted public figures, however, the members of Voodus carefully avoid anything that might provoke an emotional reaction stronger than a resigned shrug. The musical foundation ticks every box of Swedish black metal known to men with such precision that it stops feeling organic. There is chugging mid-tempo, disciplined blasting, and guitar work and melodies that read like a textbook on the Swedish school of black metal. The vocalist delivers a performance that is neither dull nor deranged. It is not bad, not offensive, but so interchangeable that it could just as well have been put together by something without heart or soul.

A different issue, aside from my probably unfounded suspicion, lies in the songwriting itself. There is not a single track on "Emanating Sparks" that carries a theme or emotional core from its beginning to the end. Instead, ideas are introduced, abandoned, revisited, and discarded with little sense of direction. Take "The Scorned" as exhibit A. It opens with a black 'n' roll-infused riff that promises a certain danger and swagger, only to collapse into chugging territory shortly thereafter. A brief melodic break precedes controlled blasting, which is followed by a double-bass-driven mid-tempo section, and sudden return to speed. Before any of this has time to fully resonate with you, an acoustic interlude enters the picture, that makes way for a melancholic, borderline depressive solo, guiding the track toward its conclusion. It's all competently done, what is precisely the problem. Every trick in the black metal playbook is crammed into one song, but without intent, urgency, or a sense that anyone involved "needs" this song to exist.

A second song which exemplifies my challenge with this release is "Where The Whispering Wind Blows". The title alone sounds like it was pulled from a black metal song title generator, but the track initially does many things right. Another short acoustic introduction leads into what is arguably the album's strongest section, where gripping melodies, riffs, blasting, and vocals finally align. However, given the song's runtime of over twelve minutes, my optimism quickly gave way to suspicion, and rightly so. Around the five-minute mark, the track slows down considerably, remaining just on the tolerable side of "acceptable", before circling back to faster parts. The final stretch then devolves into a slow, uninspired five-minute walk toward the finish line, what leaves a bad aftertaste in your mouth like garlic on the next morning.

And that, in essence, is the story of "Emanating Sparks". The title track joins the growing pile of mediocrity and does exactly what its name suggests: it emanates sparks. Unfortunately, these sparks neither ignite a fire nor cause any meaningful destruction, let alone level a village. The track is not bad by any stretch, the mid-song heavy metal solo has its moments, and a groove two-thirds in may even prompt some foot-tapping, but taken as a whole, it sounds overly constructed, overly polished, and entirely lacking any danger. Still, together with "Below And Beyond", it represents the album's highlights. Nonetheless, the latter also suffers from the same "just emanating sparks" condition: a slow build toward aggression that never fully pays off. Comparisons to melodic black metal compatriots Istapp come to mind, particularly in the faster passages, though without ever approaching their quality or impact.

The production completes the picture and follows the same pattern as the music itself. The sound is clean, well balanced and professional, but completely devoid of menace. Nothing is wrong, but nothing feels right either. The album sounds Swedish in theory, but not in spirit. It's black metal by blueprint rather than by conviction.

Rating: 6.8 out of 10, because the album conveys competence without conviction, polish without danger, and sparks without fire which ultimately leave little more than lukewarm ash.