Album Review: Trudger – Void Quest (Floodlit Recordings)

Returning after an eleven-year absence, one of the UK’s most exhilarating death metal infused sludge bands Trudger are back with their brand-new album, ‘Void Quest’. It will be released on August 29th, 2025, via Floodlit Recordings.

Hitting listeners with a barrage of sludgy and heavy noise, Trudger pick up where they left off and show immediately with the dynamic and dense Merciless Sabre, that they’ve not missed a step. Wickedly intense, the combo of meaty drums, ferocious riffs, and roaring vocals is the stuff sludgy dreams are made of.

Yet, it is just the start and with Occupied Frequency, Trudger show just how damn beastly they can be. A slab of crushing heaviness that starts off so damn hot, slows down in dark and sludgy fashion, before going absolutely wild at the end. It’s brilliant, but so is Illusory Path, a track with monumental power behind the instruments and just a touch of gloomy atmosphere.

Whereas you can almost (and I mean almost) groove to that one, Tethered System is quite different. A thick and moody effort, with both the instrumentals and the vocals drawing from very dark places. Yes, it’s heavy, but that’s not the ultimate takeaway. This one will leave you feeling troubled but addicted. Sitting nicely alongside God Rest and Battle Hardened, where the former’s more complex sound is compelling (especially as it has more melodic harmony, brilliantly twisted around the thickness of the sludge) and the latter delivers a nuanced battering that sets the senses aflame through its clever touches.

Trudger have made sure this is a return that everyone will take note of, and gone the ‘all killer, no filler’ route. Resulting in a satisfying listen right up to the end. Where the likes of Wind Cleaver, Sleep Purge, and Bile Elixir deliver varying degrees of heaviness, filthiness, and gloominess. All as addictive as each other and everything that came before, provided you can stomach the thick viscousness of it all.

You may not remember the Trudger of eleven years ago, but I can assure that the Trudger that sits here now is one well worth paying attention to.

Trudger – Void Quest Track Listing:

1. Merciless Sabre
2. Occupied Frequency
3. Illusory Path
4. Tethered System
5. God Rest
6. Battle Hardened
7. Wind Cleaver
8. Sleep Purge
9. Bile Elixir

Links

Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | Spotify | Floodlit Recordings