I postponed the review of this album for much too long, for reasons beyond my control. I regret it now, because VORKREIST have obviously a lot to offer to Death Metal devotees, and I am greatly surprised this fact still stays unsuspected until today. “Sabbathical Flesh Possession” is a very peculiar album as it was due to be out on a proper label, but unfortunately VORKREIST were left label less, and chose to spread out this release mainly as a promotion tool, while looking for a decent deal. And even if the production of this album needs great improvement in the mixing and mastering departments, VORKREIST show a lot of potential and appear right now as a leading force within the French scene and even beyond. Formed quite recently (in 1999) in the Paris area, VORKREIST issued only a four track demo before working on their debut. If you look for demonic Death Metal in the vein of DIABOLIC, I can only give the advice to seriously investigate the VORKREIST case without too much delay, because the music reaches the same level as a lot of American Death Metal “superstars”. The nine tracks on offer are all based on changing rhythms and sudden breaks, keeping the listeners attention intact at any time. The band don’t abuse on fast riffs only, they know to give a rich texture to their songs, all the compositions sound carefully crafted. Again, as it seems to be the rule now, the vocals are of two types: Death Metal growls mixed with Black Metal shrieks. Like I said before, VORKREIST could be seen as a French version of DIABOLIC (without being clones of the Floridian maniacs) because of their peculiar style of blackened Death. The musicians all handle their instrument very professionally, we are not dealing with jokers here. I think “Sabbathical Flesh Possession”, without being a landmark in the Death Metal field cannot be confused with the pile of joke releases that plague this music right now. An excellent album I am happy to have in my collection, but I would like to see a proper version emerging in a not too distant future! All interested parties should contact VORKREIST at: vorkreist@hotmail.com. To the records label owners: don’t let pass the chance to sign a sure winner!

After a demo in 2001 called “Sermons Of Impurity”, VORKREIST from Paris now release their debut album “Sabbathical Flesh Possession”. VORKREIST unleash a straight assault of old-school Satanic Death / Black Metal, inspired by the likes of MORBID ANGEL, ANGEL CORPSE, IMPALED NAZARENE, early IMMORTAL etc., free from any experiments as female vocals or keyboards. They deal with all the typical trademarks of the genre but they do it off the beaten track. All of the nine songs are on a high level of composition but unfortunately the production turns out to be rather dull, which on one hand takes away some energy but on the other adds a raw and grim appeal. Anyway, worshippers of old-school Satanic Death / Black Metal and the aforementioned bands will definitely find another strong record for their collection with this release, so check it out, on www.evilness.com/vorkreist/ you can find a few mp3 files from the album and one from the demo.