Rorcal - Világvége

Review by Zamaan Raza.


Rorcal are a doom/drone band from Geneva formed in 2006. Világvége is Hungarian and translates to “the end of the world;” perhaps not a terribly original sentiment for metal band, but its expression is almost flawless. Instead of the desolation of the aftermath, the sheer volume and density of this music evokes the chaos of annihilation.

Their last album, the superb Heliogabalus, was a single intimidating track of sparse, supine doom metal in excess of 70 minutes, strongly reminiscent of Khanate or France’s Monarch. Világvége is a different beast. Whilst Heliogabalus gradually builds momentum like a freight train, Világvége lurches from the languid pace of its predecessor during the first two tracks to an apocalyptically urgency in the third, somehow maintaining its coherence throughout the album. Frenetic, bees-in-a-bucket tremolo riffs are punctuated by gloriously dense blastbeats. All the hallmarks of black metal are here, but the production is doomy with copious low-end, and the drums are front and centre, while the vocalist’s monotone shrieks hint at the band’s hardcore origins.

Rorcal have perhaps been dismissed as one of the glut of Neurosis/Isis-aping post-whatever bands, but with this effort, they deserve your attention

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]