Review by Faithless on September 27, 2020.

As the “dominant” species in the third rock from the sun, we humans have been in a constant struggle between keeping civilization going and creating our demise. Empires have risen and fallen and our current society is speedily going towards extinction. We are a zero-type civilization and the horizon looks blurry each day, leading us to be the virus, the cancer of earth. After the album The Phobos and Deimos Suite Serocs strikes once again the technical brutal death metal scene with an EP called Vore. This EP deals with the theme of humans as devourers of everything on the planet and us causing our obsolescence.

Serocs' sound hasn't changed much from their previous effort. The band keeps up with the blasting and technical brutality in the drums, fast and intricate riffing, techy bass lines, and horrendous guttural vocals. In my view, this EP serves as a way to perhaps include songs that were not into The Phobos and Deimos Suite for x or y reason and also as a teaser for what's to come shortly. The production, writing style, and instrumental attack is kind of similar to previous efforts. The only thing I can say changed a bit was that the guitar passages are more melodic than before. Of course, without sacrificing aggression and technique.

Vore is composed of 7 tracks in which 2 previous versions of their 2011 demo were included ('Nihilus' and 'Anthropic'). I have to say that the new versions of the demo songs are sounding brutal enough to justify their existence in this EP. By the way, those are instrumental versions, no vocal parts included. Anyways, let's get into the other 5 songs. The EP opens with 'Anthropic', this track starts with a short mysterious intro that quickly builds into the main riff, which is rhythmic, melodic, and catchy enough to keep your headbanging. The bass is prominent and pulsating, something that most of the time doesn't happen in technical brutal death metal bands. The bass usually gets buried into the mix and is just relegated to breakdowns and slow parts. Speaking of slow parts, there is only one moment to get your breath back in this EP; 'Shallow Vaults' is a brief instrumental that bridges 'Building a Shrine Upon Vanishing Sands' and 'The Temple of Knowledge'. Apart from the small interlude, you will only find frantic blast beats and complex guitar sections.

As I already mentioned, Vore is a demonstration of the inhuman technique in all the instruments, and is not about showing off how fast they are or how brutal. It is about how coherent and cohesive you are with the concept you're displaying. 'To Self-Devour' closes the butchery consistently, keeping up with the melodic guitar moments along with the EP as well as with the technical parts shown in the bass and drums. This is by far my favorite song of Vore due to the leitmotif drawn in the guitars that makes that track catchy, labyrinthine, and aggressive. A perfect closure.

Concluding with my review, I just want to say that Serocs has been a very consistent act since the beginning of their career. Throwing competent material into the scene, this band takes their time to release smart music into a sub-genre that tends to be repetitive and sometimes dumb. So folks, it is time to self-devour your brains and spin Vore, a very interesting and decent piece of technical brutal death metal from the band Serocs.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Review by Felix on March 26, 2021.

I liked The Grand Awakening Among The Great Sleep, the album by the Ukrainian who named his "band" Do Skonu. That's why, in all my generosity, I thought it would be a good idea to give him a second chance. Here you go, curtain up for Black Asceticism.

It's a pity that the 2019 work can't match the class of the 2014 album. The Grand Awakening... is darker, more mystical and achieves a deeper effect. In parts, Black Asceticism gets in its own way, for example when 'Separate Reality' in fourth place is a piece that is nothing more than a performance of somewhat irrelevant sounds. This damages the flow of the album more than it helps it. The same applies - to an even greater extent - to the keyboard-saturated 'Circle Is Closed'. But well, we are only talking about two brief interludes here. The bigger problem is the sound, which is a bit too clean for my taste. This results in a deficit of blackness. The hypnotic element in the music is also largely missing. 'Black Asceticism' trots along at a leisurely pace on a long path in a melancholic mood through the forests of Ukraine. One can join this path - in the comforting certainty that one will not die of an excess of tension on this journey.

All my complaining does not mean that Do Skonu have produced crap. Not only the stylish cover is compelling. Many guitar lines prove the artist's grasp for effective melodies. His core competence lies in designing dragging, at best medium-fast tracks. But even the faster, initially richly emotionless '(Aum) Supreme Truth' still develops splendidly.

The highlights of the full-length are nevertheless other tracks, such as 'Fields Of Blood', an instrumental with an excellent flow and brilliant guitar lines. Surprisingly, one does not miss Mr Varagian's voice. But that does not mean that it detracts from the compositions. On the contrary: his grating croak enriches the atmosphere of the pieces. Speaking of atmosphere, in this discipline 'Eternal Non Return' has a very large, extraordinarily tasty portion to offer. To avoid misunderstandings: yes, the keyboards also contribute to this ambience. But they only take over the melody for a short time, the great guitars, which do not hide their wistfulness, are more decisive. This song could undoubtedly be a wonderful soundtrack to a dark, Eastern European fairy tale.

All in all, I have no regrets about spending money on Do Skonu again. Although I largely rule out that it will be my last wish on my deathbed to listen to this album again, of all things. But that's only because I've resolved to become a Sabaton fan in the last half hour of my life. It's better that one of them dies than that it happens to a black metal enthusiast. (Final note: as far as I can see, there are no idiotic political/racial theories here - and that's good this way.)

Rating: 7.4 out of 10

Review by Felix on March 26, 2021.

I liked The Grand Awakening Among The Great Sleep, the album by the Ukrainian who named his "band" Do Skonu. That's why, in all my generosity, I thought it would be a good idea to give him a second chance. Here you go, curtain up for Black Asceticism.

It's a pity that the 2019 work can't match the class of the 2014 album. The Grand Awakening... is darker, more mystical and achieves a deeper effect. In parts, Black Asceticism gets in its own way, for example when 'Separate Reality' in fourth place is a piece that is nothing more than a performance of somewhat irrelevant sounds. This damages the flow of the album more than it helps it. The same applies - to an even greater extent - to the keyboard-saturated 'Circle Is Closed'. But well, we are only talking about two brief interludes here. The bigger problem is the sound, which is a bit too clean for my taste. This results in a deficit of blackness. The hypnotic element in the music is also largely missing. 'Black Asceticism' trots along at a leisurely pace on a long path in a melancholic mood through the forests of Ukraine. One can join this path - in the comforting certainty that one will not die of an excess of tension on this journey.

All my complaining does not mean that Do Skonu have produced crap. Not only the stylish cover is compelling. Many guitar lines prove the artist's grasp for effective melodies. His core competence lies in designing dragging, at best medium-fast tracks. But even the faster, initially richly emotionless '(Aum) Supreme Truth' still develops splendidly.

The highlights of the full-length are nevertheless other tracks, such as 'Fields Of Blood', an instrumental with an excellent flow and brilliant guitar lines. Surprisingly, one does not miss Mr Varagian's voice. But that does not mean that it detracts from the compositions. On the contrary: his grating croak enriches the atmosphere of the pieces. Speaking of atmosphere, in this discipline 'Eternal Non Return' has a very large, extraordinarily tasty portion to offer. To avoid misunderstandings: yes, the keyboards also contribute to this ambience. But they only take over the melody for a short time, the great guitars, which do not hide their wistfulness, are more decisive. This song could undoubtedly be a wonderful soundtrack to a dark, Eastern European fairy tale.

All in all, I have no regrets about spending money on Do Skonu again. Although I largely rule out that it will be my last wish on my deathbed to listen to this album again, of all things. But that's only because I've resolved to become a Sabaton fan in the last half hour of my life. It's better that one of them dies than that it happens to a black metal enthusiast. (Final note: as far as I can see, there are no idiotic political/racial theories here - and that's good this way.)

Rating: 7.4 out of 10

Review by Felix on March 26, 2021.

I liked The Grand Awakening Among The Great Sleep, the album by the Ukrainian who named his "band" Do Skonu. That's why, in all my generosity, I thought it would be a good idea to give him a second chance. Here you go, curtain up for Black Asceticism.

It's a pity that the 2019 work can't match the class of the 2014 album. The Grand Awakening... is darker, more mystical and achieves a deeper effect. In parts, Black Asceticism gets in its own way, for example when 'Separate Reality' in fourth place is a piece that is nothing more than a performance of somewhat irrelevant sounds. This damages the flow of the album more than it helps it. The same applies - to an even greater extent - to the keyboard-saturated 'Circle Is Closed'. But well, we are only talking about two brief interludes here. The bigger problem is the sound, which is a bit too clean for my taste. This results in a deficit of blackness. The hypnotic element in the music is also largely missing. 'Black Asceticism' trots along at a leisurely pace on a long path in a melancholic mood through the forests of Ukraine. One can join this path - in the comforting certainty that one will not die of an excess of tension on this journey.

All my complaining does not mean that Do Skonu have produced crap. Not only the stylish cover is compelling. Many guitar lines prove the artist's grasp for effective melodies. His core competence lies in designing dragging, at best medium-fast tracks. But even the faster, initially richly emotionless '(Aum) Supreme Truth' still develops splendidly.

The highlights of the full-length are nevertheless other tracks, such as 'Fields Of Blood', an instrumental with an excellent flow and brilliant guitar lines. Surprisingly, one does not miss Mr Varagian's voice. But that does not mean that it detracts from the compositions. On the contrary: his grating croak enriches the atmosphere of the pieces. Speaking of atmosphere, in this discipline 'Eternal Non Return' has a very large, extraordinarily tasty portion to offer. To avoid misunderstandings: yes, the keyboards also contribute to this ambience. But they only take over the melody for a short time, the great guitars, which do not hide their wistfulness, are more decisive. This song could undoubtedly be a wonderful soundtrack to a dark, Eastern European fairy tale.

All in all, I have no regrets about spending money on Do Skonu again. Although I largely rule out that it will be my last wish on my deathbed to listen to this album again, of all things. But that's only because I've resolved to become a Sabaton fan in the last half hour of my life. It's better that one of them dies than that it happens to a black metal enthusiast. (Final note: as far as I can see, there are no idiotic political/racial theories here - and that's good this way.)

Rating: 7.4 out of 10