VOKODLOK’s The Egregious Being crawled outta some dark Romanian hole, and it’s a nasty, howling black metal shitstorm. Way back in 2000, four freaks - GhiauR, Strigoi, Blestemat, Grosan - heard the devil’s tune in their heads and said, “Yeah, let’s fuck some shit up.” They dragged Nemgra in later to bash the drums, and these guys have been puking out evil ever since - started with that Unchain the Wolf demo, went full psycho with Mass Murder Genesis in 2003, tossed out Oracle’s Fury in 2020. Now this thing - it’s like they’ve been chewing on hate and broken bottles for years just to spit it back at us.
This ain’t no clean-cut record - it’s black metal, raw and pissed. Guitars buzz and scream like a chainsaw stuck in a snowstorm, cutting you up with riffs that’d make a corpse flinch. Freak’s smashing the drums like he’s trying to bust outta hell - blast beats hammering your skull, then slowing down to this heavy, ugly thud that makes you wanna crawl under something. Bass is down there growling, faint but mean, like a dog you don’t wanna piss off. And the vocals - Christ, Pestarzt’s shrieking and snarling like he’s choking on glass and loving it, spitting curses that’d scare a priest shitless. It’s loud, it’s messy, it’s alive.
Whole damn thing feels like a ride through a graveyard at midnight. Got that old black metal stench - think Mayhem or Burzum if they’d been left to rot in some Eastern European dungeon. But it’s got its own kick, too - fast and wild one minute, like the world’s burning and they’re laughing, then dragging slow and heavy like they’re burying you alive. Songs kinda melt together, all screwy melodies howling over these riffs that twist like dead branches, then bam, you’re in this doomy pit feeling like everything’s fucked. Lyrics are a trip - screaming about torching churches, kissing Satan’s ass, and some weird Greek philosophy crap, like they’re pissed at everybody from Jesus to Socrates. It’s a big “fuck you” with a crooked grin.
Bet they’re a riot live - used to tear it up with Vader, Hecate Enthroned, all those nutjobs, probably left stages in pieces back in the day. This album’s got that same vibe - sounds like it was ripped straight outta some sweaty, smoky gig, not prettied up in a studio. It’s rough as hell, though - mix is so dirty you can barely hear half of it, like they taped it in a sewer with a mic that’s seen better days. Sometimes it’s just a wall of noise, too fast to grab onto, but that’s the deal - it’s not here to be your buddy, it’s here to shove you off a cliff.
These guys have been at it 20-plus years, and The Egregious Being is like they took all that venom, shook it up with some cheap booze, and let it loose. It’s black metal down to its rotten core - freezing, furious, and kinda hilarious, like if the devil’s drunk uncle started a band with a busted amp and a grudge. I’m throwing it a, let's say - 4.2 out of 5 - knocks a bit off ‘cause the sound’s a muddy mess, but damn, it’s got teeth. Light a match, curse the sky, and blast this fucker loud.
https://www.instagram.com/vokodlok_official
Thanks to Grand Sounds PR.
