By Matt Hinch. In a way, Vermörd are to black metal in 2015 as Noisem were to thrash in 2013. A bunch of teenagers with prodigious skills leaving listeners awestruck by not only their chops but by their songwriting acuity. They even come from the same area. Vermörd's debut EP, Dawn of the Black Harvest
By Matt Hinch.
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| Illustration by Luciana Nedelea |
In a way, Vermörd are to black metal in 2015 as Noisem were to thrash in 2013. A bunch of teenagers with prodigious skills leaving listeners awestruck by not only their chops but by their songwriting acuity. They even come from the same area. Vermörd's debut EP, Dawn of the Black Harvest is a feast for the ears.
It's as steeped in eroding darkness as you'd expect from the artwork. Intro track “Disciples of Shakhbûrz” sets an ominous and dreary tone but with shades of triumph in its minimalist ambience. “Plagued Eyes from the Scrolls of Xafmirtas” blows that all away in a flurry of flesh-searing black metal and spirit-conjuring solos. Brilliant tremolos and relentless percussion drive into the skull like cursed nails, hammering home Vermörd's technical death metal side.
Terrifying and frigid BM screeching is met with deathly growls, further cementing their unholy union of blackness and death. They manage to convey that sense of ancient grandeur while absolutely flattening with face-melting speed and superb guitar acrobatics.
Vermörd show tremendous promise and ridiculous talent. They bring together melodic black metal runs with the crunch of death metal and turn it into something harrowing, oppressive, epically stirring and monumental in scale. It's to the point and not moody or brooding. Dawn of the Black Harvest is death and black metal made for getting it done with maximum bloody efficiency and zero sacrifice (other than virgins).
