Vorus - The Wretched Path

Vorus

The Wretched Path

by Chris Hawkins at 16 April 2018, 6:17 PM

When one thinks of Romania, typically what comes to mind are the nocturnally grim Carpathian Mountains and Communist bloc tyrants. Arising from the underground of Eastern Europe's preternatural epicenter is VORUS, a two-person (one's a female) team ready to decimate Deathcore bands around the world.  The band sounds pretty tight to be two people sharing all the duties, or rather, one member playing everything but bass.

This is a band playing for the sheer love of the music lacking all pretension.  The first track which bears the album's title comes across as a meaty, mid-paced version of Death Metal akin to early 90s tradition.  The breakdown at the 2:57 mark is sheer old school delight as the riff varies with the double bass locked into the palm-muted thrusts of the guitar.  "The Mindwar Course," track three features an admirable take on Gene Hoglan's drum style as the bass drum blasts are split into groups instead of straight forward eighth or sixteenth notes.  One of the best riffs on the album occurs at the 0:40 mark of the sixth track, "Where Misery Crawls" is a brutal alternate-picked section divided by the always-effective octave riff (thank you, MORBID ANGEL).  Perhaps the last track, "Black Emptiness," contains the most convincing blast beats its middle section, wrapped up by a most-welcome, deftly-executed tom roll.

VORUS indeed subscribe to the ethos of "If it ain't broke…"  Both early GRAVE and "Onward to Golgotha"-era INCANTATION are points of reference as the band embraces the minor key descending eighth note passages propagated by both.  Despite a love for the genre and style with which it is played, were it not for the brief seconds of silence between songs, it would be quite difficult to decipher where one song begins and another ends.  The same framework is overused:  playing minor/diminished scales above a root note in eighth notes interspersed with palm-muted single notes on the E string.  Sadly, it's pure monotony.

In crafting their brand of Death Metal, the band conjures up an Indie Horror vibe delivering Death Metal for beer-raising meat eaters.  The best strength of the album is without a doubt, the grueling, growling, gargantuan guitar tone which is very well articulated perfectly capturing the lo-fi atmosphere the band seem to bathe in.  A close second for highlight of the album is the drums.  Straight out of 1991, there is no clicking bass drum, but rather, solid, organic beats.  The bass is up front and raw sounding like the amp is constantly on the verge of clipping.  What VORUS lack in originality and diversity, they attempt to make up for in style and execution.  It's simply a matter of how much the listener is in love with a recurring type of riff that despite being a Death Metal staple, could best be executed when married up with variety.

Songwriting: 6
Originality: 5
Memorability: 5
Production: 6