Artist: Vortax
Country: Portugal
Label: Self-Released
Formats: Digital Demo
Year: 2025
Fresh from the ever-fertile Portuguese Black Metal scene comes Vortax. Other than that there is basically nothing to tell about the background or anything else concerning this new band, yet the minimal and low-resolution cover art is very telling. So let’s just let our senses do the talking…
This self-titled first demo, that barely clocks over 10 minutes, is clearly not set to push the boundaries of the Black Metal genre or to reinvent any wheels. This is just the sort of Black Metal that was most en vogue around the start of the 00’s and largely built on the cold and raw, repetitive characteristics of ‘Under A Funeral Moon’-era Darkthrone. While there is obviously a lot of Raw Black Metal today and plenty of Lo-Fi Black Metal too, there’s something to this really old school, almost nostalgic sort of Raw Black Metal that’s dynamic and atmospheric without using anything different from the standard Rock instruments. This means that ‘Vortax’, besides its raw productional values, is relying purely on its stunning song writing. The musician (or musicians’) sense for memorable riffs and song structures is rather sensational. The raw and almost barking sort of vocals are a truly great addition to the overall sharp-as-a-knife sound, giving the music a bit of a rougher edge, some extra bite, if you will. With a few hints of early Sargeist, Satanic Warmaster, Azaghal, Moonblood, Judas Iscariot and Nargaroth, ‘Vortax’ is definitely a sweet little demo that will appeal to those with a penchant for classic Black Metal that that has absolutely no ambition to break any of the genre’s unwritten rules. The only “complaint” is the last track being a piece Dungeon Synth/Dark Ambient that feels a little lukewarm after those two outstanding tracks, but I guess that is to draw extra contrast to the whole. Highly recommended!
