Coming out of Maryland U.S.A., VERMÖRD is a Technical/Blackened Death metal band that was formed in 2013. With this combination of styles, it really opens up the music to a mass of sound that can be created and structured within, not only an album, but each song in general. They released their first demo in 2013 called Crimson Baptism and in 2015 they put out an EP titled Dawn of the Black Harvest. With a demo being put out in 2016 named Dissimulation, the band released a single in 2021 before the release of their first full length album in 2022, titled Nostalgic Predictions.

With a quick intro to open the album up, it jumps into the first track "Dissimulation" which takes on a Thrash metal melody before a crackling growl lifts the track towards a Black metal riff. The music feels faster due to the drumming which carries the Black metal vibe throughout the song, allowing the guitars and bass to take on a more technical role. The next track "Festerhate" has cool and catchy hooks within the track that leaves me wishing it would stay on the more darkened path. The vocals proceed to coexist well to music as this is one of the standout tracks on the album for me. The following couple of songs have many similarities as they are both more Black metal associated. "Blessed by Wolves" and "The Precipitous Malady" are dominated by the screeching scream of Zachary T. Both songs carry good drumming and the bass in the latter is free flowing throughout its entirety that adds a creative aspect to the music.

"Dark Morning Star" is a three-minute Brutal Death metal blast that creates and conveys a sense of chaos within the album. Not much technicality with it but more of a straight to the point approach to songwriting. A track like "Odyssey" ensures that you get a vast variety if you are looking to define each track for what they are. Melodic heavy metal, that binds itself into Tech-metal, then reaches the depths of Black metal for the chorus, all in all, it has a degree of heaviness for all to bang their heads to. The album ends off with the track "Gates", that starts off with a sludgy riff, and has the drums stand out for the most part with off-timing beats and carries the tempo well with some creatively placed fills. The track along with the album has an extreme metal embrace but also sounds like an old school Black metal recording as there is not a great amount of tinkering with the sound and is pretty raw. The track also has its own technical breakdown that becomes quickly overtaken by the vocals in front of thunderous double bass.

I would like to state right away that this is not really my thing. In my opinion, Tech Death seems to be just another desperate attempt at creating another sub-genre. I am sure it is to help diversify the masses of bands, and I get it. Back to this album though, it is not going to blow your socks off, and maybe there is not the full impact that the band was going for, but it is far from bad. I personally prefer the more Black metal aspect to the songs, to me it seems that the band does that the best. I can understand that Black metal can have its repetitive times and that is evident on this album also, but you just need to take it for what it is. With some demos and an EP released over the last nine years, this album was a long time coming and the guys should be happy with the results.