Vircolac are an Irish death metal band and this is their second album.
Following on from 2016’s EP The Cursed Travails of the Demeter and 2019’s Masque, Veneration provides us with seven new tracks of the band’s idiosyncratic death metal. Over 37 minutes Vircolac once more demonstrate that they stand out from the death metal hordes.
On Veneration Vircolac sound confident and assured as they stride out of the night followed by the sounds of Hell and darkness. The band’s death metal is vicious and imposing, but delivered with a skilled grace that’s atypical for the style.
This is a record of passionate material that traverses a few different territories, from death metal fury to doom misery. That the album opens with a 3-minute non-metal intro that never gets skipped is testament to Vircolac’s abilities, but also their expansive vision for what death metal can be. Veneration is undoubtedly death metal through and through, but it’s also more than that, at least in places.
Layers of darkness enshroud the album, and Vircolac’s ability to weave great atmosphere into their death metal is undiminished. In fact, the opposite is true, and on Veneration the band have crafted their most textured and mood-focused release to date, increasing the depth and impact of the atmospheric components, while retaining death metal’s snarling bite. Along with the involved songwriting, this makes Veneration a very rewarding album to explore at length.
Vircolac’s new album is their best one yet. Their previous releases already showcased a quality act, but Veneration is their most well-realised and executed. Veneration demonstrates the sound of a band coming into their own, taking classic death metal influences, (and others), and owning them completely. Vircolac are now firmly their own masters, and Veneration is an album of emotive depth and scathing aggression that you won’t want to miss.
Wonderbox Metal 