Label: Self released
Date: March 14th, 2025
Well, this takes me back a couple of aeons! Quarter of a century has passed since I came across Vokodlok’s debut demo. It was actually my first serious dive into the world of underground metal music. It was all that it promised to be, simple, raw black metal with production to match. It was awesome!
In all fairness, when I played it again yesterday, it was just a decent attempt at what was already in year 2000 a worn-out concept. It is likely that the band noticed the same and applied certain modifications to their first full length record, three years later. It has already shown signs of what is to become Vokodlok’s sound, anno 2025.
Members have changed, leaving us with just a pair of original members, the band’s been officially inactive for a decade or so, but the idea persevered through all these years. Rather than sticking to boundaries which grew stale a long time ago, Romanians opted to move on. Whether it was a natural growth in style and capabilities or an intentional swerve towards a more involving soundscape, doesn’t quite matter in the end.
“The Egregious Being” is a nine track opus of blackened death metal, both brutal and atmospheric, challenging and effective, deep and approachable… The album explores exactly what it encapsulates in the title. The egregious beings, of whatever species they may be. You are dragged through the musical, as well as lyrical, fluctuation of a human mind, eager to commit whatever atrocities, as long as they may serve its purpose. On the other hand, the same can be said of a werewolf (Vokodlok means werewolf) which ascertains its presence in a number of tracks. A nod to “The Island of Dr. Moreau” also springs forth in “Bestiarium”. Apparently speaking in tongues on “jagh ‘lw vlpoQ”, Romanians are invoking some sort of an ancient rite of warfare, though the hints in the lyrics suggest a Klingon origin of the topic. A seemingly quirky sources, but they all come together in a behavioural pattern so common to humanity that it transgresses into myth, art and imagination.
Musically, as mentioned above, Vokodlok manages to unite differing strivings in their sound. Take “Bestiarium” for best example. A track that swerves as a story it “embodies”. It takes you through more than enough pondering suspense but also pacing action. Similar to it, in its build-up rather than complete construction, “The Faces Within” develops beautifully as it meanders through the virtues and deadly sins.
The entirety of this record is composed from fast and mid-tempo segments (few are the slow sections) led by the guitarwork and vocals most prominently. These offer the most, in a sense that they are the driving forces of what Vokodlok presents. Drums could’ve been a bit more dynamic, which would’ve added an extra quality to “The Egregious Being”. Namely, the opener, “The Human” would benefit greatly, since the guitars are a bit on the flat side here and a bit more of rhythmic diversity could break it off. Still, Romanians have a habit of organizing lead guitar into something more and even opt for a solo which further decorates the tracks.
A dreadfully aggressive but not shy about pulsating, throbbing sensations, the album is a feast of just slightly technical extreme metal. Not an outstanding classic that must immediately become an object of fans’ desires, but a strong record that Vokodlok has deserved, for all the hard work of quarter of a century.
