As you can see, today we’re premiering a song from a new album, Nocturnal Dominion of Death, by the veteran Singaporean death-dealers Vrykolakas. It’s the second song from the album to be revealed so far. Together, those two tracks bring to mind the boxing terminology for the “one-two punch”, the devastating combination of blows that leaves an opponent sprawled on the canvas.
So let’s take up the first punch first.
“Foretaste the Divine Wrath” inflicts brutish beatings galore and rumbles the guts, but the swarming riffage is also poisonous and lethally vicious, and the vocals are monstrous.
It’s undeniably evil music, and the kind that gets hearts racing, but it becomes even more interesting when a reptilian guitar solo slithers through, radiating suffering, followed by an even more dismal interlude before the diabolical punishment resumes, accented by additional striking solo work.
That’s the first jab, though it lands a lot harder than a jab. Now for the right-cross, or the uppercut. Fittingly named “Bilateral Venomous Assault“, it’s the one that leaves you flat on your back, wondering what the hell just happened and where you are.
Of course, the song isn’t just one devastating punch but a sequence of different precisely timed maulings and mind-bending mutations. It begins with the kind of pounding drums and lead-weighted bass-rumbling that does feel like a heavyweight battering, soon joined by slashing and blaring chords, voracious growls, and maddened howls.
At this point you might have your fists up in a defensive crouch, but that won’t help. The filth-toned riffing furiously jabs, swarms, and throbs, while the rhythm section continue their vicious battering and deliver punishing body blows.
A feeling of lethal madness blooms in the music, augmented by the beastly come-for-your-throat vocals, but it also proves to be surprising — disorienting and dazzling the listener with eerie soloing, elegantly dancing organ keys, and buzzing fretwork that carries the melody forward in more dismal tones. And near the end, it kicks you while you’re down, because mercy is a foreign term to this hydra-headed pugilist.
To leave our boxing analogy behind, Vrykolakas have created an album that’s ruthlessly punishing and venomous, but also adventurous and frequently head-spinning, as if these veteran executioners would find themselves bored if they had just re-treaded what they were recording and listening to decades ago.
Speaking of which, Vrykolakas will be 33 years old this year. Nocturnal Dominion of Death is their fifth full-length. It will be co-released on April 21st through the unholy union of Satanath Records (Georgia), Iron Blood and Death Corporation (Mexico), Paragon Records (US), and Futhark Records (Canada). They predict it will be seductive to worshippers of Immolation, Incantaton, Grave, Seance, Funebre, Phlegethon, and other notorious American and European death metal entities spawned in the ’90s.
The album features strikingly hellish cover art by Armaada Art. It’s available for pre-order in a CD edition with a 12-page booklet, as well as digitally.
PRE-ORDER:
https://satanath.bandcamp.com/album/sat372-vrykolakas-nocturnal-dominion-of-death-2024
https://ironbloodanddeath.bandcamp.com/album/nocturnal-dominion-of-death
https://www.paragonrecords.org/
https://futharkrecords.com/
VRYKOLAKAS:
http://vrykolakas666.bandcamp.com/
http://www.instagram.com/vrykolakas_sg_1991
https://www.facebook.com/vrykobrutaldeath