The title of Vorga‘s 2019 debut EP, Radiant Gloom, was itself a signpost to this German black metal band’s sound, and serves as a signpost to what their first album holds in store as well. The title of the new album, Striving Toward Oblivion, also forecasts the affecting darkness in the music, and yet it is indeed also radiant.
The album’s song titles and cover art point the way toward an excursion into the stunning expanse of the cosmos, but one whose ultimate destination is death manifesting — which happens to be the title of the album’s closing track that we’re presenting today.
This new song is a multi-faceted and thoroughly captivating one, which is emblematic of Vorga‘s many strengths and of the progression their songwriting has taken since that debut EP. It’s rhythmically arresting at a primal level, so much so that it’s capable of shaking listeners like rag dolls, but it’s also atmospheric, emotionally evocative, and memorable, blending moods of desperation and wonder with compelling intensity.
The song’s opening riff is a menacing, squirming, abrasive sound. When the drums begin to rumble and vocalist Спейса begins to vent his flesh-cutting shrieks, a new riff appears, a jolting, pulse-pounding one that’s accompanied by a compulsive bass thrust and an eerie wailing melody whose clear, ethereal tone both creates an unearthly atmosphere and contrasts with the gritty, visceral punch beneath it. The riffing also begins to swirl, and the music as a whole rises to create an experience that’s somehow both glorious and stricken.
“Death Manifesting” proves to be an enormous hard-rocking head-mover, even though the melodic accents become dire, dismal, and discordant. There’s pain and despair in the music as well as a sense of soaring splendor, though the vocals remain a scalding and furious presence throughout.
VORGA is:
Atlas – Rhythm and Lead Guitars
Jervas – Drums
Спейса – Vocals and Bass Guitar
Striving Toward Oblivion will be released by Transcending Obscurity Records on February 4, 2022. The album features cover art by the great Adam Burke. Transcending Obscurity will release it on vinyl, CD, and digital formats (with apparel) and recommends it for fans of Dissection, Necrophobic, Imperialist, Mare Cognitum, Unanimated, Sacramentum, Dark Funeral, Immortal, and Gorgoroth.
Below you’ll also find streams of two previously released tracks, “Starless Sky” and “Disgust“, both of which (like the one we’re premiering) are tremendously good.
PRE-ORDER:
https://vorgaband.bandcamp.com/
http://transcendingobscurity.aisamerch.com/
https://transcendingobscurity.8merch.com/
VORGA:
https://facebook.com/VorgaBand
TRANSCENDING OBSCURITY:
http://tometal.com/
https://facebook.com/transcendingobscurityrecords