When I heard the moniker Vokodlok instead of thinking “funny name” I wondered if the band is of Eastern European origin, as “vurdalak” in Ukrainian means something akin to undead or werewolf. Learning that the band is from Romania and plays black metal, my opinion was simply reinforced.

Turns out Vokodlok is not really a newcomer, but had their career on hold for a long while, since 2003 to be exact. Also, in their earlier years Vokodlok seemed to be a lot more about rawer straightforward Norwegian style black metal. The opener The Myths may tend to go that way some, but there is no coldness to Vokodlok sound, and the song is not full of rage either. The band’s guitars are insistent on leading and are rather prominent in the mix, pointing to Vokodlok songwriting resting in the hands of its guitar player Gardrak (Andrei Pantiru). The closer The Weak may also be more typical Scandinavian Keep of Kalessin type, with guitar distortion front and center and nice solo overlaid on top of double bass supported riffs, however, the main portion of the EP is somewhat different. If anything, Alive and In the Mind are more mystic than furious and are more along the lines of Greek black metal (think Kawir) or Negura Bundet (I may be influenced by knowing Vokodlok is Romanian). Still powerful, but not overbearing, tremolos flow in obvious melodic progression, in constant forward motion. There are acoustic dreamy moments in the middle of Alive or at the start of O.F.. The latter grows to be an epic, most rousing, track with its melodic swells. The dual vocals, higher and lower level screams, turn to some sort of extreme choirs in O.F.. A big fan of Greek black metal style I found a lot to enjoy in the EP.

The release closes with the cover of another Romanian band, Dies Irae, and not being familiar with them at all there is something else worth investigating after hearing I Build the Symmetry of Chaos.