Album Review: Sarcator - Swarming Angels & Flies
Reviewed by Tim Finch
Hailing from the heavy metal hotbed that is Sweden, or “forged in the fire of infernal chaos” as their press release describes it, Sarcator are a young up and coming blackened thrash outfit, combining blisteringly fast riffs with blood curdling vocal cries.
Formed in 2018, the band are set to release their third full length album this week, a rapid release rate for a short period that also included two EP’s. No one can say they haven’t got their musical production line in full swing!
‘Swarming Angels & Flies’ gets its release on January 17th via Century Media Records and from the opening seconds of ‘Burning Choir’ the listener is greeting to an ear melting onslaught of speed and aggression. So fast are the riffs that it often feels like you’re listening to the album at 2x speed, barely has one riff landed than the next is grabbing your jugular.
The songwriting format throughout the first half of the record rarely changes, ripsaw gnarly riffing overlayed with blackened metal screams can get a bit jarring after a while. But the band persist with the style on the albums title track, taking the listener on a journey and adding a little variation of pace for good measure – or maybe to give your ears a brief moment of respite.
Throughout the album there is no mistaking what the band is out to deliver, and the technical ability Emil and Mateo on guitars cannot be denied. However vocally the screams resemble Dani Filth a little too much at times.
Standout track has to be ‘The Deep Ends’ which introduces more traditional thrash metal sensibilities, the rhythm riff less buzzsaw and more melodic, layered with a frenetic lead the pair work magically. ‘Where The Void Begins’ continues this thinking a seven minute epic that grows in the style of ‘Master of Puppets’ era Metallica material and helps you ear drums recover from the blistering pace of the albums first half.
As a bonus on some versions of this release there will be three cover tracks. Sarcófago’s ‘The Black Vomit’, ‘Dogfight’ punk Anti-Cimex and ‘Torture’ by Sadus. All three are great renditions of classic tracks, but highlight that the bands original songwriting has some fine tuning yet to be made.
If blackened thrash is your bag, then this will be an album for you. However there are some great names in the genre and Hellripper this is not, but it’s not too far off. For a band so young it will be interesting to see where they go next.
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