AN NCS PREMIERE: VORGA — “THE CATACLYSM”

It’s a public relations cliché, and too often a misrepresentation, to say that a band’s new album is their best work yet. It’s as common to see regression as it is to witness true progress. But in the case of Vorga‘s new album Beyond the Palest Star, the cliché really does hold true — it represents a thrilling advance beyond what this German black metal band have done before (and what they’ve done before has been very good).

As proof of that claim we have for you the premiere of a song from the album appropriately named “The Cataclysm“.

If you’ve caught any of the three songs from the album that the Transcending Obscurity label has released so far, you know that Vorga are capable of concocting some damned compelling riffs, and they’ve done it again on this newest song. Apart from catching in the head very quickly, the opening riff in “The Cataclysm” manages to sound both wild and grim as it climbs the ladder, and Vorga follow that one with another that provides a striking combination of low-end growling tones and sparkling brilliance up in the skies.

Especially coupled with vocalist Спейса‘s hair-raising screams and leonine howls, the enormity of his bass undulations, and Hymir‘s thunderous and piston-pumping drumwork, those opening guitar machinations by Спейса and rhythm guitarist Atlas make the song an absolutely electrifying experience, a crazed spectacle that doesn’t relent but only becomes more spectacular, reaching its zenith when fervent voices soar at the halfway point.

After that, the music expands in scope, even as its melodic mood grows darker. The elaborate layering of guitars, including the manic flickering of the leads within panoramic cascades of sound, seems to channel distress and despondency, to become haunting even as the music blazes.

And make no mistake, it’s still a gloriously exhilarating experience that keeps the adrenaline flowing even as the atmosphere darkens. And in repeated listening it’s a joy to track how Vorga move from one melodic or rhythmic motif to the next from the beginning to the end, and how they tie all of it together so seamlessly.

We want to share the band’s comments about the album as a whole, which connect very well with the specific song you’ve just heard:

The intention with this record was to capture more of the expansive loneliness of the cosmos and to bring more atmosphere into the music while retaining the same feelings of desperation and aggression heard in the previous record. A more cinematic experience that pushes harder into the mind’s eye.

While the record does reflect on a number of different themes from suicidal depression, religion or the state of the world we live in, Beyond the Palest Star is ultimately a record about the loneliness everyone feels inside their own head and what that feels like reflected against the backdrop of our desperate and broken world.

Beyond The Palest Star features magnificent cover art by Adam Burke. It will be released by Transcending Obscurity on March 29th, on vinyl, CD, and digital formats, with lots of apparel options and other merch. T.O. recommends it for fans of: Imperialist, Dissection, Vektor, Emperor, Satyricon, and Mare Cognitum.

Following the links below, we’re including streams of those three previously released songs, “Magical Thinking“, “Tragic Humanity“, and “Voideath“. They’re all well worth your time.

PRE-ORDER:
https://vorgaband.bandcamp.com/album/beyond-the-palest-star
http://transcendingobscurity.aisamerch.com/
http://eu.tometal.com/

VORGA:
http://facebook.com/VorgaBand