It seems that we are in the midst of a revival of brutal and dark Death Metal. For a moment it seemed that the strongest of the new breed of Death Metal acts were those playing the classic Swedish style. However, as of late much of the most promising Death Metal has been of a darker and more brooding variety. Perhaps the domination of Black Metal over the past 15 years or so has left a dark shadow across the entire metal scene resulting in a bleaker and more melancholy sound overall. Whatever the cause, the morbid incantations of Italy's VOIDS OF VOMIT are certainly welcome to those who, like myself, have been longing for a return to the dismal and bleak Death Metal of the 1990's. VOIDS OF VOMIT's "Rehearsal Vomit 2006" is without question one of the most promising demos I have heard recently. First of all, the recording quality is exactly what one expects when listening to a demo. It does not sound polished or produced. Rather, the songs sound as if they were recorded live on primitive equipment. Such recordings are almost always inherently more brutal than multi-tracked and refined ProTools recordings. The songs themselves are evocative of the North American and Finnish Death Metal of the early 1990's. While VOIDS OF VOMITare obviously influenced by bands such as early IMMOLATION and INCANTATION (More "Onward to Golgotha" and less "Mortal Throne of Nazarene" however), they also make stylistic references to ROTTREVORE, GOREAPHOBIA, CENOTAPH, and DISGRACE's early recordings. While they demonstrate their ability to play at any pace on this demo, VOIDS OF VOMIT avoid relying too heavily on either the extremely fast or the extremely slow as do many other bands. Most of the parts are moderately paced and played with accuracy and precision. The vocals are deep and guttural and, being slightly louder but not detached from the music, are perfectly mixed among the instruments. Also, there is very little soloing on this demo. Instead, the band simply works as one massive unit to build devastating songs rather than showcase technique. All of this results in a solid demo that is most certainly a foreshadowing ofthe looming spectre of death that awaits the release of a more formal recording by these dirty and murderous maniacs.