When it comes to the vast and unyielding realm of black/death metal, Triumvir Foul has been the high bar that I’ve had set for many other acts in the style for years now, and it is not often whatsoever that I find myself coming across a band that’s able to match them. It’s when I do, though, that I know for an undeniable fact that something truly exceptional had come my way. With their debut album, Voreus not only matches those standards that I have in my mind but they also blew all other expectations right out of the fucking water with this release.

The best way to describe albums like what we’ve got here can be boiled down into one word: hellish. There isn’t a single iota of “The Proclamation” that isn’t absolutely dominating over all life in the universe as Voreus commands a sound that is truly powerful in every right as the listener is constantly being crushed by the sheer power that’s brought forth in all of these twenty-three light-devouring minutes. This is a concoction the likes of which black/death metal was fucking made for! For the entirety of this effort, Voreus has unquestionable dominion over this exceedingly fiery craft that enables us to witness just a glimpse of what they are capable of, and despite its raw power that resonates off the cavern’s walls such that you find your skin peeling itself away as your blood boils away into vapor, you’ll come to realize this is just a hint of the true power of this act. But make no mistake with that, “The Proclamation” is an insidious creation of darkness itself. Between its foreboding atmospheres that fall like a cloak over these devastatingly thick riffs and rhythms that herald in the undead, haunting vocals that power over us like a fallen god foretelling us of a torturous fate, and the entire journey of “The Proclamation” that takes us through grandiose domains of fire, death, and rot, it’s impossible to dispute what ultimate creation has been crafted here as Voreus has done nothing but create something that is all but jaw-dropping in every form whether it comes as the sheer devastation, the raw power, or the display of musicianship that’s constantly defying our expectations.

Such works like this are why I constantly find myself coming back to the style because this is material that cannot be found anywhere else for all that it offers. Should they expand their sound past what they’ve laid forth on this debut, which I’m very confident they will, we shall soon find ourselves putting Voreus on the same level as many legends of the style like Teitanblood, the aforementioned Triumvir Foul, Pseudogod, and much more should everything after “The Proclamation” live up to this majesty.

LISTEN to “The Proclamation” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Voreus on Facebook here.