Album Review: Voragoth – Storm Obey No Masters!

Band: Voragoth
Title: Storm Obey No Masters!
Label: Independent
Release date:  October  1st,  2025
Country: Croatia
Format reviewed: High-Quality Digital Recording 

Album Review: Voragoth – Storm Obey No Masters! by Sílvia

I must start my review saying that I’ve known Artem, the man behind Voragoth, for a long time on social media. I started following him when he released his first single, “Dance of Falling Stars”, in October 2023 (with Nikita on acoustic guitar and Slava on drums), an instrumental piece very far from today’s Voragoth sound. What I’m trying to say is, it’s not every day that I witness the birth of a new band and I become an admirer of their progress. Artem is an unstoppable warrior, a very skilled musician. And he has created a whole universe of epicness, music and lyrically, fueled by passion and as a way of channeling his inner world of fantasy and emotions. 

But, let’s stop with the rambling and get into the review of “Storm Obey no Masters!”. The debut album by Voragoth is a display of stunning melodies wrapped with epicness, not in a triumphant way, but in a dark style. Harsh vocals are the key. The use of some folk instruments adds rich details to the songs, a vibrant emotion. 

Artem, the brain and soul in Voragoth, is responsible for playing guitars, bass, bouzouki, vargan (a mouth harp), doing the vocals and writing the lyrics. There’s also Slava Popov playing drums. And the impressive artwork was done by Nikita Shushman, a skilled artist portraying dark fantasy themes. And the mixing and mastering was by Andrey Ivanenko at Holytube Studio. What a great team!

If you read the lyrics carefully, you’ll be amazed by the story told, a fantasy tale about the land of Veloria and all the war and desolation destroying it. But also, after all the tragic events, maybe there’s a bit of hope, like in the closing track: “The first light breaks through the haze / And the tattered shroud, / Fleeting gold the dark allowed”. This is so poetic!

Guitar harmonies are sometimes bright and beautiful, other times dark and menacing. And, when it comes to the solos, there’s a lot of technique, I just listen to the short solo in “Storm Obey No Masters!” and realize how brilliant it is. Also, the intricate one in “The Last Day of Light” talks about Artem’ skills with this instrument.

The bass is very present in these songs, this instrument has quite prominence, you can listen to it everywhere resonating and filling the background with its low vibrant notes.  There’s even a short bass solo in “The Last Testament”, and that’s very cool. By the way, the final part of this song has a big epic feel mainly due to the choruses and the way the drum intensifies until exploding at full blast, and the repetitive melodies played by a plucked instrument and guitars, along with the chorus, building a monster of a desolated landscape. 

Talking about solos… have you ever heard a bouzouki solo in a Metal song? This instrument brings some slavic folk tunes to the table and the result is brilliant. It has its stellar moment in “Renegades”, when all the blasting and harshness turns into a beautiful folk passage for a moment, until it explodes again and all the power and the fury return. By the way, the two last minutes in this song it’s like you are witnessing a devastated battlefield, scorched and annihilated,  with no signs of life, all wrapped in fog… 

Artem does a lot of varied vocals, from harsh gutturals to raspy screams and also beautiful clean chants (“Darkness Shrouds…” it’s a short piece sung in Russian, his mother tongue, and it’s vibrant and full of emotion, like an epic anthem), even whispers and spoken parts. He really imprints something special in every part of the songs. I’m overwhelmed with the aggression distilled by Artem’s voice near the end of “In Chaos We Reign”. And the dramatic screams in “The Last Day of Light”. I particularly love the way Artem records several layers of his own voice to create the choruses, the result is awesome. And when his voice seems to break a few moments during the album, because it has to be like that, due to the intensity and drama of the story told… That’s so touching!

I love how drums can be restrained at the more epic moments, and then unleash all their fury. Just like at the beginning of “Storm Obey no Masters!”, the third track. The beginning it’s just a super epic moment with the use of the jaw harp, the bouzouki and I think a traditional percussion instrument (or maybe it’s just the way that drums are played?), and then all the energy starts to flow when the electric guitar kicks in and  drums blast at full. That’s a great beginning for a song that tells us a story of devastation. Artem’s vocals are threatening, dark, and the bass adds even more power to the scenes depicted. I love the variation in drum tempos, even disappearing for a few seconds allowing the bouzouki to shine, then starting to build the atmosphere and finally exploding at Artem’s harsh scream “We’re calling the storm!” Ahh goosebumps… 

While listening to this album: I’ve sung along, I raised my fist in the air many times, I headbanged a lot, I felt my emotions overflowing and cried at some passages, I closed my eyes and saw Veloria, felt the devastating storm, joined the renegades… I also did air drums (yes, this!) and stayed in awe just feeling the music… I enjoyed every minute, every second of it. Not that this happens to me every day, of course… It’s just, every note, every pulse of the bass, all the drum beats, the folk instruments, in combination with different kinds of vocals… all is perfectly placed to create a fantastic sonic voyage, something that traps you intensely. For me, at least!

I was really eager about this album, but didn’t know it would be this perfect! It resonates in me like an emotional soundtrack, a fantastic voyage. 10/10

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10/10  Immortal Classic
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