Review by Carl on January 10, 2024.

It's a good thing that most metal and punk bands aren't sueing others over copyright issues, I think both Blasphemy and Discharge wouldn't have the time left to play music if they had to go after every other band that stole their formula. From what i have seen these last years, I think that Brodequin has become the next name to put in with the ones mentioned, because they have a lot of squatters on their territory as well, and most of 'em aren't subtle about it either.

And that's where Cercenated Flesh comes rolling in. Fitting in nicely with other Brodequin inspired acts like Orchidectomy, Baalsebub, Gargling and Perverted Dexterity, this Chile based brutal death metal unit deliver a massive load of brutal death metal, heavy on the down-tuned riffs, ferocious blast beat ferocity and deep guttural vocals. These characteristics have been poured into short and sharp-edged songs, that alternate high speed violent battering with heavy midtempo stomp driven forth by double kick drive, while oozing copious amounts of belligerence. Playing is technically proficient for sure, luckily without overdoing it, while proceedings are kept brutal and on point throughout. There's barely a hint of melody present, with the band preferring to focus on utter force and remorseless aggression, both of which this release has in abundance. Unfortunately, this is also gives the album a tad of that 'one long song' feel, so it will probably take some spins to totally get a grip on this album.

I have said this before, but I have the idea that a lot of brutal death metal bands are getting tired of the clean and digital production values in this scene, and are opting for a more gritty and unpolished sound, and Cercenated Flesh are among these. Whether this choice is deliberate or the result of budgetary or other factors, I don't know for sure, but I do know that I like this kind of unrefined sound. It brings back a human touch to proceedings, but it also gives the whole a more aggressive and menacing feel, which I can certainly appreciate. It's just too bad that the guitar work gets snowed under by the gutturals and percussion, though. Somewhat more balance to the mix wouldn't have hurt here.

This album delivers such a brutal pummeling dose of unchecked brutality that by the time this platter reaches its end, it feels as if you're grinded to pulp by it. The band may have this 'Brodequin's little brother' vibe going on a bit, but that does not take away that this is truly an unapologetic dose of brutal death metal, worthy of the term, for sure. If you're into the bands mentioned above, and you go nuts for ferocious blasting death metal in general, this definitely a release worth noting.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Michael on April 21, 2024.

German Sci-Fi black metal entity Vorga is here to explore the outer space with us for the second time. So please enter the spaceship and let's lift off. But beware, this isn't going to be a soap opera with nice Tribbles or even with some malevolent aliens who are lurking in the horsehead nebula to extinct mankind. No, this is more or less a desperate trip into the nothingness and to explore the tragic and maybe senseless existence of the human race.

The cover describes perfect what we can find musically on Beyond The Palest Star. Beauty but nothing that gives you shelter or hope. The slight futuristic blackish stuff Vorga perform on their second full-length is full of melancholic and desperate melodies that let you literally feel the nothingness around you. The whole album is like a long search on which you will never find the answer. Or to stay in outer space, like a probe that flies from solar system to solar system, scanning each planet and its satellites to find alien life only to resign and exit the system without a positive result: the songs are very intense, in many single parts kind of persisting and challenging but then suddenly explode and accelerate onto warp 10 again. Stylistically Vorga aren't too far away from their countrymen The Spirit (thematically and musically) and this of course implies some similarities to Dissection of course, too. But while The Spirit are more minimalistic when it comes to sound effects, Vorga often use some freaky spaced keyboard sounds to give their songs some more depth and attraction and so they remind me here and there a little bit of very old The Covenant back to “Nexus Polaris”. Also the guitar solos (like in 'Magical Thinking') underline the desperation of the album. Repetitive and in minor, this isn't anything to build you up, this is more something to drag you down. The tremolo picking in this song catches up with this, too. Nothingness, meaningless existence – what a fantastic oxymoron to the title 'Magical Thinking'. With 'Tragic Humanity' (yeah, another positive aspect on the album) they created a very epic one. Some mid-tempo melodies that are kind of cinematic and rousing are combined with many keyboard tunes. Here and there are ferocious, icy black metal outbursts but it never turns out into a black metal onslaught. This is a highly melodic track that stresses out the tragic we all have to suffer in a very vivid way. Having arrived (or not) at the end of our journey, we are docking at the 'Terminal' which attracts of its almost classical arrangements at the beginning and the very dense and futuristic atmosphere in its progress. Again a lot of keyboards are used to create this atmosphere and this one is for sure another highlight of the album. Not like a lot of other bands they put a slight generic track at the end of the album and fortunately this one didn't turn out like the soundtrack to that boring movie with Tom Hanks, no this one make you want to hear more by Vorga.

Although our search for answers wasn't successful and there is nothing to be found, not even beyond the palest star, we will start exploring again. And this time in the third dimension (or on Vorga third album which hopefully won't take too long to be released).

Rating: 9.5 out of 10 deadly voids

Review by Michael on April 21, 2024.

German Sci-Fi black metal entity Vorga is here to explore the outer space with us for the second time. So please enter the spaceship and let's lift off. But beware, this isn't going to be a soap opera with nice Tribbles or even with some malevolent aliens who are lurking in the horsehead nebula to extinct mankind. No, this is more or less a desperate trip into the nothingness and to explore the tragic and maybe senseless existence of the human race.

The cover describes perfect what we can find musically on Beyond The Palest Star. Beauty but nothing that gives you shelter or hope. The slight futuristic blackish stuff Vorga perform on their second full-length is full of melancholic and desperate melodies that let you literally feel the nothingness around you. The whole album is like a long search on which you will never find the answer. Or to stay in outer space, like a probe that flies from solar system to solar system, scanning each planet and its satellites to find alien life only to resign and exit the system without a positive result: the songs are very intense, in many single parts kind of persisting and challenging but then suddenly explode and accelerate onto warp 10 again. Stylistically Vorga aren't too far away from their countrymen The Spirit (thematically and musically) and this of course implies some similarities to Dissection of course, too. But while The Spirit are more minimalistic when it comes to sound effects, Vorga often use some freaky spaced keyboard sounds to give their songs some more depth and attraction and so they remind me here and there a little bit of very old The Covenant back to “Nexus Polaris”. Also the guitar solos (like in 'Magical Thinking') underline the desperation of the album. Repetitive and in minor, this isn't anything to build you up, this is more something to drag you down. The tremolo picking in this song catches up with this, too. Nothingness, meaningless existence – what a fantastic oxymoron to the title 'Magical Thinking'. With 'Tragic Humanity' (yeah, another positive aspect on the album) they created a very epic one. Some mid-tempo melodies that are kind of cinematic and rousing are combined with many keyboard tunes. Here and there are ferocious, icy black metal outbursts but it never turns out into a black metal onslaught. This is a highly melodic track that stresses out the tragic we all have to suffer in a very vivid way. Having arrived (or not) at the end of our journey, we are docking at the 'Terminal' which attracts of its almost classical arrangements at the beginning and the very dense and futuristic atmosphere in its progress. Again a lot of keyboards are used to create this atmosphere and this one is for sure another highlight of the album. Not like a lot of other bands they put a slight generic track at the end of the album and fortunately this one didn't turn out like the soundtrack to that boring movie with Tom Hanks, no this one make you want to hear more by Vorga.

Although our search for answers wasn't successful and there is nothing to be found, not even beyond the palest star, we will start exploring again. And this time in the third dimension (or on Vorga third album which hopefully won't take too long to be released).

Rating: 9.5 out of 10 deadly voids