Vore

Serocs was a band that many got to know in 2018 with their fourth full-length album The Phobos/Deimos Suite. The album crushed all competition in the genre and I myself had it high up on my yearly list and got the “brutal death metal album of the year” award. With that being said I was obviously stoked for their upcoming EP Vore. The album consists of seven tracks, where the two last tracks “Nihilus” and “Anthropic” are from a 2011 demo (“Nihilus” was featured in a new version on The Phobos/Deimos Suite, while the new “Anthropic” is the opener for Vore). So for an EP this is actually pretty sweet, close to a full-length I would say seeing the running time is over 26 minutes. The line-up has stayed mostly the same, with the big difference being that Phil Tougas (Chthe’ilist, First Fragment and Funebrarum) is not a full member any more like he was on The Phobos, but instead has helped as a session member with sick guitar solos on track two and additional songwriting on track one and five so he has been apart of almost half the album.

It starts of just like I’d hoped on the opener “Anthropic”, with some fast and heavy music that got killer technical riffs which they set the bar really high for on their last full-length. Gotta love those bass solos too! Need more of that in metal overall in my opinion. Following it up “Building A Shrine Upon Vanishing Sands” comes on, the single I quickly fell in love with and made me pre-order the album. This is also were Phil Tougas comes in with wicked solos. This is Serocs at its peak and it’s one of the best songs that will be released this year. If you don’t just go ape-shit over that solo half-way into the song then I don’t know if you even like guitars! It’s close to a perfect track in this style. After a short breather with the instrumental tune “Shallow Vaults” it’s time for another previously released single in “The Temple of Knowledge”. The track is a bit slower paced than the first two were but still packs a punch that will sucker punch you if you’re not ready for it. “To Self Devour” has some nice hooks to it but that song doesn’t really connect with me at first. I feel they might have strayed away from their sound a bit too much on the start of that song until it, around 1/3 in, ramps up where I then feel at home again and it ends on a high note. Then we have the two demo tracks. I could have lived without them in all honesty but at the same time it’s actually really fun to hear how two instrumental songs can turn into something quite different on the end results. The blueprints they used did eventually turn into two killer songs after all.

As it usually is with a good EP it’s over way too fast. Vore is another great piece in the Serocs discography and while it didn’t blow me away like The Phobos/Deimos Suite did (which I consider being one of the best brutal death metal albums of the decade) it’s superb musicianship by a very hungry band. Vore has some real highs but it isn’t near the same overall level however it showcase different sides of Serocs that fans can appreciate. I do miss having Phil Tougas on guitar on the whole album that’s for sure, but Serocs is all about quality and do extremely well on their own anyway it has to be said. Serocs is a band everyone should know by now, if you don’t Vore is a great place to start your journey before jumping on their masterpiece The Phobos/Deimos Suite.

Originally written for The Metal Gamer