Vircolac - Masque

After 5 years of roaming city streets like a pack of rabid dogs, Vircolac is set to release its debut full length album titled Masque on Sepulchral Voice Records in Europe and Dark Descent Records in the US.

Following on from 2016's The Cursed Travails of the Demeter EP, Masque celebrates a bolder edge mixing more visceral and vicious aural assaults with with a foreboding and obtrusive atmosphere throughout the 36 minutes of the recording.

The album title reflects the myriad masks we as human beings hide behind and the cover represents what is ultimately left once the mask of flesh is finally removed. Whether pauper or opulently venal, the end is the same for us all.

Thematically, the album reflects two different strands of story telling, with side A adopting a starkly defiant tone throughout. Side B then takes a moodier assessment of the obsequious venality that governs the world we inhabit and inherit. The conclusion of this being the mass industrialized slaughter of much of Europe's young in the great war.

Masque is a direct statement of purpose by Vircolac and is the culmination of half a decade of steadfast belief in the continual relevance and importance of Death Metal.

While Death Metal appears to continually be a retrospective genre, Vircolac are intent on bringing fresh, vital and energised song writing to the fore, making the genre still contemporary and relevant.