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Sometimes you tune in to what a brand new band is doing and immediately think, “oh, these guys are on to something here.” Cancer Void is one of those bands.

Cancer Void is a brand new death metal band hailing from the city of Prague and who just released their debut EP First Metastasis independently on August 1st. Cancer Void hasn’t exactly attracted a ton of attention yet, but let’s see if we can fix that even a little bit right now.

Contextually, there’s not much to say about Cancer Void at the moment. Their band camp description of First Metastasis is pretty bare bones, though I do think it’s impressive the band recorded and mixed this EP themselves. It sounds great, which is tough when you’re neck deep in your own work and objectivity is running a little thin. I mean, you know how it goes. I mean, it does really sound good, which again is impressive that they mixed and recorded this themselves because objectivity is a little difficult when it’s your own music, but Cancer Void nailed it.

It’s also worth noting that Cancer Void vocalist David did the artwork for First Metastasis under the name Serus, as he’s done for quite a few of his own projects in the past. Not to say that that makes the artwork any less impressive, I’m just saying this guy seems to be a pretty talented artist.

Musically, Cancer Void strikes a killer balance between atmosphere, blunt heaviness, and proggy eccentricities all swirling together into a cosmic maelstrom that never really trips over itself or gets in its own way. Cancer Void knows when to switch things up and when to keep going on a particular riff or segment or just overall kind of vibe, and they impressively do so throughout their entire debut EP. I also appreciate that Cancer Void approaches their progressive elements from seemingly two angles throughout the entire release.

The first is just the sheer amount of parts per song, which in this case is a good thing. Cancer Void knows how to set up the main focal point of each song and then elaborate on them with these tangentially related parts. The second half of this EP is a great example of that. The songs “Ammonia Baths” and “Cosmic Caverns of Extinction” run a collective almost nine minutes, all of which I guarantee will keep your attention. Again, there’s a lot going on in each one of these songs, but once you kind of grasp what the bigger picture is and then you can sort of parse out what’s going on and why each one of those segments exists, it’s really well written.

And the second point that I have to make about Cancer Void‘s progressive eccentricities is that they jam a bunch of odd time signatures into songs, but they keep it headbang worthy. You’re not sitting there thinking, “oh, is that 13/8 or something?” It just flies right by, you just get really into it, and then all of a sudden one day you’re listening to it and saying, “wait, is that in 7?”

What is going on here? A quick listen to the song “Encased in Veins” should prove that effortlessly. I didn’t even notice how much this song shifted around until one day it dawned on me that Cancer Void was using a whole lot of 7 on that track. It’s impressive from a technical standpoint, but even more so that it doesn’t interrupt the flow or feel like Cancer Void is trying to show off as musicians or, again, jam a bunch of proggy nonsense in there to be prog.

It just feels like it comes naturally within their writing process. The other thing Cancer Void nails is the balance between melody and sheer brutality on this EP. On First Metastasis, the band leans hard into guitar-driven melodies and weaves them seamlessly into the overarching chaos of what’s going on. Just take the first three movements of the song “Breeding Pyramids” as proof. It kicks off with these soaring melodies layered over relentless double bass, and then drops into a slower and crushing section built on these open-string Gojira-style stabs, and then plunges headlong into filthy death metal riffing.

It’s a controlled descent, but it feels very meticulously planned and, again, really well written. Cancer Void also punctuates the EP with two interludes that lean hard into a cosmic, otherworldly atmosphere. And while those textures from the interludes don’t explicitly resurface in the main tracks, the band channels their kinda spacey essence into the songwriting itself.

And the result is a really seamless flow. Rather than pulling you out of the experience, these interludes expand the palette and deepen the mood of the EP. They feel less like detours, and more like different facets of the same cosmic horror that underpins the entire record. Though I will say, I wish that Cancer Void would incorporate the synths from the interludes into the actual songs themselves. They wheeled them really well, they picked a lot of really cool tones for the synths, and they just fit the vibe.

I think they would really fit in well with whatever Cancer Void does next. It would definitely be a pretty cool progression. Another thing that I really liked about this EP is how Cancer Void intermittently highlights the bass parts. There aren’t bass solos in the traditional sense, but the band lets the bass step into the spotlight during key transitions and steer the song into new territory.

The bass has a tone that’s filthy and tumor riddled, yet still articulate enough that every note cuts through and you get the sense that the bass player is introducing the next riff or the next thing that Cancer Void is going to be doing. The bass doesn’t just hold down the low end on this EP, it amplifies the whole diseased atmosphere of it.

My only real complaint here is that Cancer Void seems to be constantly on the verge of some Spectral Voice-styled death doom, but never quite goes there. And not that that makes the EP any less good, because it definitely doesn’t, but it feels like Cancer Void could’ve dove headfirst into that sound on some of these songs and totally crushed it. They’ve got the chops, they’ve got the writing skills, they’ve got a great grasp on atmosphere. Slower Cancer Void parts would absolutely rule. I think if they can incorporate that more into their sound, it would take them straight to the next level

For a debut EP, First Metastasis is pretty impressive. It seems to draw on a lot of modern death metal, like Tomb Mold and Innumerable Forms and again, Spectral Voice and Blood Incantation and stuff like that, but it’s not an outright clone of any of those bands.

Listen, I’m not saying that Cancer Void is this wildly inventive new band that’s gonna explode your mind and make you think about the genre completely differently from here on out. But they’ve given themselves a solid starting point that feels adventurous in its writing, it’s got a lot of great riffs, and a mix that brings it all together into this cosmic cancerous gloom. It’s a good EP.

First Metastasis is an 8 out of 10 for me, I’m curious to see what these guys come up with next and if it gains them any traction. But again, for a first effort, this is really solid. Hell, for a seasoned band, I’d still like this.