The German black/death metal band, Voreus, opens the cursed gateways into a horrendous world of unfathomable nightmares with the release of their new mini album, “The Proclamation.” Sentient Ruin Laboratories will be responsible for putting out this blasphemous offering of extreme sounding chaos and in the process adding to an already monumental year for the label.
Voreus definitely fits the criteria for a band that one would expect to be associated with Sentient Ruin. The band’s punishing onslaught of blackened death metal is not to be diminished, even though this style of extreme metal has been done before by countless bands. I think one way for bands to break away from the mundane and repetitive stereotype is to focus on constructing compelling atmospheres. Also, you should have strong execution from start to finish when pertaining to production value. If your creative vision is to present listeners with a realm of abysmal sounding landscapes filled with abominable brutality, then don’t construct some lack luster arrangements that sound as if they were hastily written while on the toilet.
My belief is that you should always stay committed to the vision and let the music flow with a merciless synergy. For the most part I would say Voreus does that throughout the album and the tight sounding compositions shrouded in a blanket of starless darkness definitely strengthens the overall listening experience. The opening track, “Trisagion,” for example instantly grabbed my attention with its haunting chants that sound like they were coming from a forbidden temple. As the terrifying hymns fade away the band launches into a blackened death bludgeoning with the song, “Progeny of Fire.” There are plenty of fiendish sounding drum parts that send cataclysmic shockwaves throughout the musical landscape. The tormenting style of guitar work provides a profound sinister element as well to accompany the deafening sounds of infernal destruction.
On the next track, “Portals to the Dark Realm,” the vocalist begins with a gruesome death growl that echoes over the hateful sounding instrumental compositions. I find the guitar riffs to be extremely mesmerizing and even though they are not overly technical works of pointless shredding nonsense, the presentation of the riffs and unconventional lead parts inject a tremendous amount of vile energy into the overall presentation.
You also hear that same approach on the next two songs, “The Proclamation” and “Descending Into the Infernal Abyss.” I thought, “Descending Into the Infernal Abyss,” was probably one of the most dynamic and well written pieces of music off of the album. The song starts off blazing fast, but then all of a sudden the tempo dramatically slows down and this ominous chanting begins to slowly creep into the mix. As the song marches on towards the end you begin to feel as though you are being dragged down into the sulfuric world of infinite damnation.
In the end, “The Proclamation,” is a solid sounding extreme metal release and I think Voreus is band that should not be dismissed. Although the style of music is nothing new to the world of extreme music, I strongly believe the execution makes this an album definitely worth checking out. Anytime a band can successfully take you on a joyride into hideous sounding realms where demonic entities feast upon the carcasses of innocent souls, then you know this is an album that you do not want to pass up!
Check out the song "The Proclamation" below (Album comes out December 4th):
Voreus Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Voreus-768749019818399
Sentient Ruin Website:
Always enjoy reading your colorful reviews Robby.
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