Review: Tersivel – To the Orphic Void

Style: Progressive Death-Doom/Groove Metal (mixed vocals)
Review by: Sam
Country: Argentina
Release date: 11 February, 2022

I haven’t written a review in quite a while, but here I am. Ever curious, I found this band searching for obscure music. As I couldn’t stop listening to them, I felt a review was necessary. 

Tersivel is an Argentinian metal band. Their sound is akin to what you’d expect if someone told you Gojira was melodic and prog rock influenced. Given that they used to play Viking-themed symphonic folk metal, this is quite the shake-up. If you have any previous experience with the band, they’re probably nearly unrecognizable to you now. What caused such a change is not known to me, but I’m all here for it, because they tapped into that good shit.

To the Orphic Void is a dark record. Chugging tremolo riffs with brooding doomy synths is what forms the core of their sound. I mentioned Gojira earlier as an apt comparison, but unlike the French environmental friendly whale-enthusiasts the focus is not so much on groove as it is on an impending sense of doom and an outlet for very personal pain. The lyric-sheet isn’t available online, but judging by the song titles it sounds like he’s going through a breakup of some sorts. As someone very much not into all things groove in metal and strongly into all things depression, this approach resonated deeply. 

Sincerity is really the key to what makes this album so appealing to me. Growls can often sound staged, but I don’t even need to focus on the lyrics to feel how much pain and longing there is in the coarse shouting here. The pounding drums and generally loud production help a ton with pummeling it into you. “Shivering Deadly Cold” is probably the stand-out track in this regard with its more death metal-ish riffing hammering in the emotional pain. In other tracks, they let their softer side shine more with gentle clean vocals entering the fray and lighter soundscapes. In “She” for example, we get a beautiful folksy acoustic outro reminiscent of Opeth, and in “The Ferryman” they layer cathartic synths over soft emotive singing in the chorus. The synths are a tad bit on the melodramatic side, but it’s used in a tasteful fashion. Nothing more than a light parmesan seasoning for the flavor.

The bulk of the material is spent on the metal aspect though. They have a chunky, vile riffing style I really appreciate. There’s a sense of Gojira-esque groove and heaviness, but it’s nastier and there’s no pick scrapes, leaning more into the death metal side of things, albeit on the slower side. This leads me into a general complaint with this album: most of the time they play in a plodding midtempo pace, it sounds crushing, but over the course of the album it gets a little tiring despite otherwise having good variety. The loud production also muffles some of the subtleties in the instrumental performance. And as far as bad things go, the final song spreads its ideas a little thin and ends up overlong as it spends too much time on building atmosphere over a single riff. I do value what they were going for though. They give a good payoff at the end despite the wait, leaving a good aftertaste despite some hiccups along the way.

I can definitely recommend this album as a  whole. Tersivel put out a great collection of tunes with this one. They prove once again to have excellent compositional skills, genre shift be damned. What you’ll find on To the Orphic Void are chunky riffs, good build-ups, and a lasting emotional impact. I voiced some complaints about the tempo and mixing, but those aren’t nearly enough to prevent this from being a unique release worthy of your attention. Also do check their other albums if you’re into more aggressive folk metal and BEER, they’re just as great.

Recommended tracks: She, Weeping Iron Tears, Shivering Deadly Cold
Recommended for fans of: Gojira, Opeth, Amorphis, Dvne
You may also like: Hath, Hands of Despair, Sermon, Dark Millennium
Final verdict: 7/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page

Label: Target Group – Bandcamp | Website | Facebook

Tersivel is:
– Lian Gerbino (vocals, guitars, bass, noise)
– Danny Ebenholtz (drums, percussion)
– Franco Robert (keyboard, synths)