Review: NEKRAD/VOCIFERATION ETERNITY Dragonia Pegaso split-CD (2012)

VOCIFERATION ETERNITY
It has been a while since VE has actually released anything. To be exact, 2002 in which they (or he - Dark-E) released For Thee EP. I should have known better because I was the bass player for two albums (Ocean Myth and Meadow's Yearn). If anything matters than my absolute confidence in the capability of Dark-E (the founder), I probably have passed the offer of playing. Not totally original, but VE has this golden touch on melodies and intricate guitar works that is unsurpassed by anyone (at least in this South East Asia region). The four songs offered in this release give you the exact thing. Your quench of thirst in anything melodic yet aggressive with webs of depressives are finally satisfied. You will be hooked only after a round of preview and you will absolutely will play it more. Dark-E while plays all the instruments, but needed the help of her lovely wife for the lyrics which explain all the quirky (in Metal, at least) song titles - Grace of Mothers and Regrets for example. For the constant offering of quality music in Metal since its inception, it adores no less than a salute whenever possible. If only I could one thing that is missing in VE, it will be that Dark-E needs a real bass player!

NEKRAD
Nekrad is a different monster altogether. Leaning towards the melodic Black Metal territory with heavy reference to Cradle of Filth and mixes of Dimmu Borgir, Nekrad doesn't sound bad at all. In fact, this is one the best recorded material in that vein you can find from this region. The music is quite complex in terms of the instrument' mixes. The guitar works quite straight forward but the initiatives in the synth/keyboards area are rather elaborate but never overwhelming. The vocals are vicious with varying moods of screams and growls. Though the band's works in the studio can be argued (since Jadam the producer is heavily involved), Nekrad is now consists of real people playing in it. And they are quite ready to prove it in the open fields, listed extensively in the gig diary for the whole 2012. Relatively unknown than VE, it gives a huge advantage to Nekrad since they have everything to prove and if things go bad in the first try, there are at least a second chance -which is not the case by the look of it anyway. Absolutely one of the band to watch out from now on.