EPK – VORAATH (2023)
Publicist – Jon Asher – jon[@]ashermediarelations[.]com
Management: Joel Spielman (EMG) – emg.joel.spielman[@]gmail[.]com
Booking: Continental – Michelle Messina – michelle[@]continentaltouring[.]us
Featuring members from Xael, Rapheumets Well, Implosive Disgorgence, Sweet Blood, and Visitant
“This was the first song we wrote as a band, it was a fun song inspired by our children who were fans of the horror creature “siren head,” which is a creature developed by Trevor Henderson. So for us, this was a bonding song for us and our kids. Our lore features interdimensional deities anyways so it was not out of our conceptual scope to write a song about Siren Head. With our new vocalist bringing so much to the table and revitalizing the project, we wanted to remake the song to introduce her sound and stylistic approach to our music, setting the pace for what’s to come with the full album.” – Joshua Nassaru Ward – Drummer/ Band Founder
For fans of Fleshgod Apocalypse, Cattle Decapitation, Dimmu Borgir, Acid Bath, Septic Flesh, Gojira
Exsrmusic.com | Facebook.com/ExSRecords | Instagram.com/exsrmusic | Twitter.com/ExsrM
Voraath.com | Facebook.com/Voraath | Instagram.com/voraath | YouTube | Tiktok.com/@voraath
Digital – https://hypeddit.com/voraath/sirenhead
“Crushing Sci-Fi Death Metal” – Metal Injection
“The music (The Barrens) reaches new heights of fire-storming intensity, burning with feverish desperation, and then suddenly shifts into a classically influenced acoustic guitar and bass instrumental that’s sublime. That proves to be a segue into yet another phase of the musical narrative, one that’s glorious. The drums continue their blistering assault, but the music soars on the wings of solos of riveting splendor, heroic singing that goes sky-high, and the vast sweep of cinematic synths, which collectively end the track in a panoramic finale of stunning magnificence.” – No Clean Singing
“they are a band who’ve combined their musical and visual sides into a silver screen-worthy, sci-fi based, death metal odyssey centered around alien contact, the devastation and degradation of the environment and humanity, rule by corporate overlords and henchmen, Primitivism vs. Futurism and, of course, lots of blood, guts and killing.”- Decibel Mag
Single Title: Siren Head (4:54)
Release Date: June 27, 2023
Label: Exitus Strategem Records
Single Credit
• All songs performed by: Voraath
• All songs written by: Voraath
• Produced by: Joshua Ward
• Mixed by: Joshua Ward
• Mastered by: Mike Low
• Album Artwork by: Joshua Ward
Band Lineup:
Chelsea Marrow – Vocals
Tylor Kohl – Guitar
Paul McBride – Bass
Joshua Ward – Drums, Keys, Vocals, studio Guitars
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The old roads of the Appalachian, barren and soulless lay ahead. Each step reminding us of our failures and a foreshadowing of the unfavorable journey that lies ahead. This song captures the native folk tones on the Appalachian mountains, reworked to resemble the feeling of being lost and broken.
The Road to Samm Hill
We have received coordinates to the location of the relay, an alien mechanism that can bend space-time. Employed by EOS Corp, our mission is to retrieve the relay at all cost. As we approach the area of operation, we are confronted by a creature frail and decaying stumbling along the old road. As it approaches us it reaches out its hand, revealing a sort of otherworldly controller. The creature shortly after petrifies and dies. Resuming our journey we come across a barren village, with dead bodies scattered. Further investigating we discover that Ostromek Corp had been conducting experiments on what seems to be an otherworldly entity. The scientist and security officers of Ostromek had seemingly lost control of the creature which had led to the massacre of the local village. This song outlines our battle with the otherworldly entity as well as discovering a traitor in our own ranks.
Waypoint Orion
The mission to Samm Hill was a failure. We resumed our pursuit of the relay (The Nexus key) deep into the Appalachian forest where we would discover a mound of bodies, the corpses of the lost villagers. Creatures from beyond our dimension stood guard and at the apex of the mound was a vile creature with authority over the lesser sentinels. The relay had been activated and was shimmering red particles when we noticed the screams of a little girl laying at the base of the corpses.To recover the little girl we would have to eliminate the corpse guardian. After killing a few of the creatures the relay began to resonate louder and louder. As we shot the third creature the very land around us changed. The sky became red and the landscape was foreign. We shot the fourth creature and reality itself transformed around us. With each kill the relay activated, altering the world around us. As we eliminated the final guardian and rescued the little girl, we found ourselves trapped in a different dimension.
The Terminus Rift
Stuck in an alternate dimension, a dark world of obsidian spires and tattered geometric architectures, we had to find a way to return home. We are confronted by otherworldly zealots. Our primary mission is to survive while we try to figure out how to operate the relay. While making our way through the chasms of this dark stone city, we awoke a nefarious entity, a vicious titan whom the zealots praised as a god. While attempting to repair the relay, the hunters must survive the onslaught on the titan and its servants.
Dreadborn
This song is a flashback to how Marrow came to join the hunters. During a mission to retrieve a key component for the relay, a mechanism called the Navigators Key, the hunters had to infiltrate a military compound controlled by Ostromek Corp. The hunters would arrive to a facility of dead soldiers and a rogue seer with telepathic abilities on a murder spree. While on a mission of vengeance, Marrow (seer) targeted the hunters not knowing that they were not affiliated with Ostromek Corp. After a vicious battle, the hunters were able to subdue the seer, recruiting her into their ranks and acquiring the Navigators Key.
The Barrens
This was our first song as a band, a song that encapsulated the brutal and melancholic nature of post traumatic stress (ptsd). The video is a series of flashbacks for the point of view of two of the hunters. One is experiencing loss and betrayal; meanwhile being pursued by a savage otherworldly entity (which shows the layers of coping with one tragedy while fighting to simply exist). The other is the feeling of hopelessness that turns to hate and that hate consumes those around her. The music itself carries out like a metal movie soundtrack, with aggressive peaks and demented valleys, all culminating into the grand apex of the final segway, an epiphany of taking back control (live to fight another day). We hope this brings awareness to the struggles and trauma we all are dealing with, awareness for those coping with PTSD.
Judas Blood and Vultures
Mission: 3116 The Red Village incident: The Valewalkers are contacted by an old friend, Tobias to investigate a series of strange disappearances in a neighboring village. It is believed that a vile creature from beyond the Nexus Rift, known by the locals as Lumia is responsible for the missing villagers, among them, Tobias’ new bride and infant child. As the hunters and their forlorn guide begin their pursuit of the creature and its cultist minions, they soon discover that not all is as it seems in the ruins of the red village.
The Leviathans Keep
This song is actually a prequel to our main story line. In our musical lore, we are mercenaries who take odd jobs in a dystopian society for resources for our village. We took a contract to escort a EOS Corporation scientist to a classified location in the mountains to recover data on a deceased entity. Our mission is to activate the IC-B18 energy barrier that isolates the area of operation and protect the scientist at all cost. Due to an intense GRS (Gamma Ray Storm), the relay drone used to communicate and initiate the barrier was destroyed which prompted an emergency evacuation, unfortunately the extraction point is occupied by savage mutant cannibals. The song follows our failed mission as we fight to survive the treacheries of the mountain. The end of the song has a unique twist. As our curiosity gets the better of us and we discover what EOS corp was researching; the corpse of a cosmic entity that will change our lives forever. The music is the culmination of primitive brutal rhythmic patterns and the epic soundscapes of survival. We are excited to share what we feel is something very unique in the metal and music community.
Dirge Colony
We have been given our final orders, to hunt down and eliminate the vile entity own as UA -33, the ender. While en route, the hunters came across the scattered remains of their friends from a neighboring colony. They dismally traversed the ravaged village. The hunter known as Ward, came across an old house with sounds of men celebrating. Ward began quietly investigating the dilapidated house, coming across a battered and wounded young woman. Bloodied, she fearfully signaled Ward to keep quiet. Realizing that she was a captive of soldiers, celebrating the pillaging of the colony, Ward along with the other hunters would murder the heartless mercenaries and mourn the loss of the young woman. This song was actually a dream that we wove into the music, a song about mourning loss and coping with nefarious circumstances.
The God-killer Saga
This song is the apex of our journey, from locating and retrieving the nexus key (relay) and the Navigators key, to grand standoffs with interdimensional entities, their mission would lead them to the very source of the apocalypse, to the entity UA-33 or the “ender.” deep in a gorge in the Appalachian mountains, the hunters approach a rift in the stone, a divot between dimensions. After defeating the creatures guarding the rift, the hunters would finally confront the seemingly iniquitous god; but nothing is what it seems and a secret with unfathomable repercussions will be revealed. Here is where the hunter’s journey ends and the sentinels of Voraath begins.
Sirenhead
Though most of the concept of our debut album follows a group of “survivors” who are tasked with hunting down an inter-dimensional deity who has ravaged the earth, for this song (Siren Head) we wanted to do something “less” otherworldly and a bit more of a horror. Our children love watching scary stories about this creature called “Siren Head.” Come to find out that so many kids his age are infatuated by the monster, so we wanted to write our interpretation of Siren Head based on the artist Trevor Henderson. This also allowed for us some family metal/horror time!”
Pyrrhic
After learning the truth of our journey, we must cope with the traumas and loss of our endeavors. This song is very bleak, capturing the sound of emptiness. Feeling as if there is no hope, no end, and the endless pain of enduring existence.
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Story Angles – Fun Facts:
1 Our music is set on a dystopian earth about a hundred and thirty years in the future. Eighty percent of the population has disappeared after the arrival of three interdimensional entities and the world is governed by corporations. The music and lore are told from the standpoint of a group of contracted hunters who inadvertently becomes part of a much more insidious plot with cosmic implications.
2 – Our outfits are handcrafted by the wife of our guitarist (Frank Kohl). The armor and cuirass that our vocalist wears were handcrafted by leather crafter/armorer Joshua Niemeyer who is the owner of the crafting company “The Grim Ringer.” Our masks are altered mesh masks crafted by Tylor Kohl and Joshua Ward.
3 – Our drummer Joshua Ward also does drum tech work, working for renowned drummers such as George Kollias and Pete Sandoval.
4- The lore of the music is inspired by 80’s sci-fi movies, game lore, and folk tales of the Appalachian mountains.
5- Both band rooms and studios exist on farmland in the mountains of N.C. and S.C. where members of Voraath go on group camping, kayaking, and tactical training adventures which inspire the vibe which the band portrays.
L-R – Paul McBride – Bass, Joshua Ward – Drums, Chelsea Marrow – Vocals, Tylor Kohl – Guitar
Photo Credit – Picture by Jamie Leblanc, Art by Joshua Ward
Voraath is a Sci-fi horror-inspired extreme metal band featuring members from Xael, Visitant, Rapheumets Well, Implosive Disgorgence, and Sweet Blood. Crafting their own musical, the music serves to take you on an auditory odyssey.
An otherworldly and experimental metal act based out of the Carolinas, Voraath unifies epic soundscapes with bone-crushing brutal riffs. In September 2021, Voraath began as an experimental project with Joshua Nassaru Ward (Xael, Rapheumets Well), Tylor Kohl, and Paul McBride. In April of 2023, Chelsea Marrow joined the team as the lead vocalist. The word Voraath itself refers to an act of vengeance as well as the deity of wrath.
Shared Stage with Rings of Saturn, Extortionist, Volcandra
Tours and Festivals:
2022 -Cyber Shed U.S. tour with Rings of Saturn
2023 – Dimensional Destruction tour with Volcandra
2023 – Headling the Blast Beats and Brews festival in Atlanta GA.
August 2023 – Michigan Metal Fest (with Born of Osiris)
Artist Endorsements:
Ddrum, Saluda Cymbals, Los Cabos Drumsticks, Foot Blaster, Volta Innovations, Cad Audio, GHS Strings
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