Album Review: At Sacrament - A New Dawn
Reviewed by Gareth Pugh
This is a first for me, a Paraguayan metal band, and if At Sacrament are any example then I must check out some more. ‘A New Dawn’ is the band’s first release, a 5 track E.P., which considering that the band only formed in early 2020 and the shit show this year has been so far, how they managed to get a product written, recorded and released in six or so months is a remarkable effort all around. Of course, that wouldn’t mean Jack if it was rubbish, but this is a highly impressive debut release.
Five tracks, one of which is a stylish intro. ‘Saints of Darkness’ is a two-minute classical introductory piece with choral chanting and strings. That leads nicely into the title-track, Nicolás Peralta and Fabián Giménez certainly know their way around the fretboard and present us with a cool riff set full of pinched harmonics and melodic progression, and there’s plenty of melody on show and this is nicely offset by Alexis Martinez’s bark like vocals, all this, over the super tight rhythm section. Third track ‘Corrupted Minds’ and after another classy melodic intro the band adds a bit of groove and bounce to the proceedings and a memorable chorus. ‘Mental Overload’ starts with a slower, more crushing riff, before heading into speedier territory with the fastest track on offer, and another catchy chorus. Finishing things off with the longest and most ambitious track is ‘Visions of Madness’, the classic ‘bell’ comes out at the start and with more of those artificial harmonics, the song has some nice dynamics and a slightly more diverse arrangement than some of the other songs.
All in all, I’m very impressed with this classy debut, the band will appeal to those who like their metal on the melodic death side of thrash, with a strong clear production to showcase their talent. If this is the standard of release they can produce in a few short months, I’m really looking forward to what they can come up with in the future.
