If there’s one thing we can all agree on, it’s that Supraliminal, the 2023 album from death metal act Nothingness, is worthy of a 2.5 and no other rating. I know of no faction that holds it in higher esteem, am aware of no lack of consensus surrounding Felagund’s review–Oh wait just a second. I reviewed the tomes and scrolls, and it seems there was a shitstorm surrounding these guys. The comment section went to war on behalf of this Minnesota sextet’s brand of A24 OSDM.1 Steel Druhm juuuuust managed to put down a revolution, but the bonfire roared anew when Kenstrosity named Supraliminal his Record o’the Year. In the years since, a fragile peace has held… until now. Nothingness is back with their hard-charging third album Godslaughter, threatening the status quo and giving us the chance to pick old scabs and answer lingering questions. The most urgent of these: who was right?
Godslaughter is a vile piece of work, even meaner and more antisocial than its predecessor. Nothingness hasn’t abandoned the ambition that led Kenstrosity to describe their style as “caveman death with a university degree.” The band still brings some of the inventive brio of Gorguts or Nightmarer to a ferocious overall vibe that recalls a less theatrical Autopsy. This latest offering manages to double down on aggression while expanding Nothingness’s sonic palette and the range of their songwriting. If you can survive the onslaught of an opening run that includes the platter’s first two singles (“Skull Evulsion,” “Trenchant Glunch”), these grander designs reveal themselves. The album as a whole is an exhilarating run through nine well-sequenced tracks, seasoned with a flair for composition that makes the verdict clear: Godslaughter is a roaring return and a death metal ripper.
Godslaughter unfolds in three acts. The first commences with the sucker punch that is “Incinerated Immediately,” then proceeds through three additional tracks that lay you flat and kick you around for a while. “Vanquishing Providence” slows things to a crawl to “welcome” you to a middle section that’s built around longer and more varied songs. It’s here that you’ll find the slab’s most ambitious compositions, a pair of seven minute epics that go from first to fifth gear with no thought spared for the health of your spine. Nothingness throws in everything they’ve got and a few new tricks to boot, up to and including the bonging Black Sabbath bell that punctuates “Divine Irresponsibility.” A spoken word sample kicks off “Incredible Violence” and ushers you into the third act of the album. Sonic experimentation worms its way into these three selections, which essentially split the difference between parts one and two of the slab.
The album organizes itself into distinct segments, but Godslaughter’s forty-minute entirety remains a cohesive listen. The songs are united by a harsh but thoughtful production. Alex Walstad’s guitars flirt with peaking on tracks like “Incinerated Immediately” and “Umbral Spear,” but it all feels intentional. While there’s no credited producer, returning engineer Adam Tucker knows when to give space and clarity to a riff and when to noisemaxx. Barclay Olson, who is the vocalist for a death metal outfit and not the CFO of a private equity fund, lacks some variety in his attack. His roars do threaten to get repetitive, but the intensity of the music and the concise run time keep things at a rolling boil.
It’s a delicate alchemy, trying to combine familiar influences and elements into something that feels novel. Nothingness has pulled it off for two albums running. With Supraliminal and now Godslaughter, these merchants of digressive death submit a pair of long players to get your neurons firing even as they power wash your central nervous system. Like its predecessor, Godslaughter leaves a rancid mouthfeel behind as it rants its way toward Listurnalia. I’ll probably return to Supraliminal more than I do Godslaughter, so I won’t quibble if you want to ding the new slab by half a point. But all in all, Godslaughter is about as good as their last one.2
Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Everlasting Spew Records
Websites: nothingness.bandcamp.com|nothingnessisdeath.com
Releases Worldwide: July 31, 2026
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