Album review: Gosudar - Morbid Despotic Ritual (2021)

Gosudar - Morbid Despotic Ritual

Russia

Rotted Life Records

 

Gosudar released one of the best albums of 2021 with "Morbid Despotic Ritual", an opus of ghoulishly evil, dark death metal. As this murky oeuvre unfolds, the band show a knack for excellent songcraft – delivering a barrage of destructive darkness, with references to 90s era Incantation, as well as drawing parallels to more contemporary acts such as Cemetery Urn and Dead Congregation. In addition to the ferocious nature of the music, the title seems to imply something physically macabre, and that's exactly what Gosudar achieves with this release. The whole thing is remarkably well-crafted and exudes a level of songwriting that puts them above some of their peers. As far as Russian death metal goes, Gosudar ranks among the best. Highly recommended. Stand-out tracks: “Demented Visions of Infinite Power” “Awakening of the Realm” “Insurrection of Nephilim”

 

EP REVIEW: Voroth - Voroth (2019)

 

Voroth – Voroth – EP – 2020

Russia

Independent

Voroth is a four-piece death/thrash act hailing from the depths of Nevinnomyssk, Russia, and the self-titled EP under review is their debut release. Upon listening to these songs, I have discovered a band with the ability to write interesting and well-crafted material that doesn't border on sounding like your typical death/thrash fare. The music is actually very forward-thinking and executed with vigour. The production brings out the solid performances and I appreciate the presence of the bass in the mix. I also like the fact that the band opted for singing in their native tongue, as the music always sounds more expressive that way. (Definitely an approach more bands should opt for.) The band seems to have a penchant for writing epic songs, since most of them hit the 5-minute mark and are packed to the brim with instrumental support. Overall, I would rate this as a pretty solid EP, but like most releases, there's always room for improvement; in this case, I feel like the band should try to add a bit more depth to their craft, as the songs have a tendency to sound a little monotonous at times. Other than that, a good first entry from a promising band. (HT)