Vér – A Féreg Pusztulása (Occult Grotesqueries Hungarian Death Metal)
Ah, Hungarian death metal. You usually hear references to particular countries and their metal, Swedish death metal being one of the champions, and certainly the most oft mentioned, but I think it’s about time we discuss this Hungarian thing. In the past five years I’ve received more and more submissions from bands from Hungary who bring a certain style to their death metal, or let us add to that all genres adjacent such as death doom, best described as the active decay of a worthless wretch. Rothadás, for example, exemplifies this style I’m noticing, and now we have perpetual grime kings Vér, who bring to death metal not just the usual occult, but a vulgar, atrophic mood most certainly linked to centuries of decaying edifices of lost culture and time.
After only a single demo to their name, we find Vér producing a true ossuary to their Hungarian brand of death metal in A Féreg Pusztulása. If any cover artist could get it right, Brad Moore would be it, for what you see above is the physical manifestation of the album tracks over the entire listen. Vér have a bizarre style that sounds consistently like their fingers are about to fall off or slip from the frets, yet they always stay in time and keep the grind coming. In addition, they’re never satisfied with merely delivering the base riffs on a simple funeral pyre, this is rather a grandiose remembrance of all things dead with licks of flames towering over cities into the sky for all countries to see. And they do this without being overbearing in the assault, as the band understands the importance of solos, allowing the bass to provide pulse, when to increase speed, and even forcefully inject a dose of true punk to keep things moving. By the end you’ll understand what I meant earlier when I said that there’s this Hungarian thing we really need to discuss as such. The Swedes have culturally claimed their own style for awhile, but this, phew, it’s clearly it’s own grotesquerie, and it’s time it was discussed as such.
Written by Stanley, Devourer of Souls
Vér – A Féreg Pusztulása
Me Saco un Ojo Records
Cover Art: Brad Moore
4.5 / 5
