• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

Vorgok was formed in 2014 by guitarist and vocalist Edu Lopez (of Necromancer fame) and this is their debut album. Being Brazilian, it's – of course – easier for me to pick up on what's good and what's garbage in the local scene, and when I get my hands on something worth its weight in gold and deserving of a good review, I'm happy to do it. These dudes piss blood on the plastic neo-thrash scene and further consolidate the Brazilian extreme metal fame of being visceral and true to its roots.

As I said above, this is not your run-of-the-mill thrash album with bland lyrics, childish songwriting and that same artwork style by Ed Repka-wannabes (or the actual Ed Repka) that we're fucking sick of by now. Instead, these dudes deliver a slab of old-school vicious Thrash Metal with some pinches of Death here and there and very, very decent lyrical content. The latter is an ensemble of current political and social issues such as Syrian refugees – as seen in "Mass Funeral at Sea", which illustrates the sad event where thousands died trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe – the United Nations, UNESCO and such, giving the album a good amount of depth and relevance. The sound itself is powerful enough to blow a speaker or two, with Lopez delivering relentless vocal performances, virtuous – while raw and vigorous – guitar lines by him and Bruno Tavares, and Jean Falcão and João Wilson providing good kitchen support. My highlights go to opener "Deception in Disguise", the absolutely brutal "Headless Children" and the Death-ish "Hell's Portrait".

Assorted Evils, musically speaking, is like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (don't worry, this is a good thing): it is intelligent, critical, polished and sophisticated, while also being ruthless, chaotic, bestial and fierce. Extreme Metal fans in general will find this appealing, as will the ones who look for deep and crafty songwriting regardless of genre. Highly recommended.