(written by Islander)
There’s nothing wrong with a very good band sticking to what they know and essentially repeating an appealing formula from one record to the next. Many have done that, including groups who’ve been practicing their craft for long stretches of time.
On the other hand, many of us (most of us?) are more interested in creative types who aren’t content to crank out basically the same thing over and over again, even if it’s appealing. Over a large span of years, that might begin to seem like working on a musical assembly line, where boredom sets in.
Of course, varying a workable formula can be risky, depending on the extent and nature of the changes. What’s fun and exciting for the musician might be confusing and unwelcome to their fans.
Which brings us to Sarkom, the Norwegian black metal band who are now several years into their third decade of music-making, and just a couple of weeks away from the release of their fifth album, Exceed In2 Chaos.
Photo by Ksenia Astera Hinderson
We haven’t been tracking Sarkom‘s music for the entire 23 years of their existence, but we have been following them and scribbling about them for the last 11+ years (here’s the evidence), long enough to appreciate that while Erik Unsgaard and his changing array of comrades have always been dedicated to ferocity (it is their mother’s milk, so to speak), they have been creatively restless and seem to relish catching listeners off-guard. Other than exhilarating thrills and frightening chills, you never know exactly what you’re going to get when you dive into a Sarkom song.
That remains true of the music on this newest album, the proof of which can be found in just the first two singles, the second of which we’re premiering today.
The first single was the album’s title song, which premiered at Decibel last month. The song and album name do promise “excess” and “chaos”, and the song fulfills those promises, with drums blasting away, Unsgaard‘s voice crackling with raw, come-for-your-jugular hostility, and riffage that violently writhes. But the riffing is dissonant and disturbing in tone. Augmented by piercing guitar-leads, it rings and ripples in a way that’s simultaneously deranged and distraught.
And the song is also packed with changes. The vocals flare into excruciating sounds of torment and torture. The drums march, the chords grow darkly grand, and the lead guitar seems to wail in anguish. Fretwork convulsions explode and dismally swarm; the music sounds like a war zone, with guns blazing and artillery firing, and then resembles fields of broken bodies in agony, and death ascendant.
Few vocalists can sound as frightening as this one, but the music is equally frightening and emotionally disfiguring. The lead guitar, though warm and clear in tone, casts a saturating (and unexpectedly entrancing) pall of gloom and grief, leading to one last seizure of chaos.
That’s a serious, and seriously unsettling, though still adrenaline-charged, piece of music. But we did remind you that Sarkom seems to relish catching their listeners off-guard. Here’s how Unsgaard introduces the second single that we’re about to premiere. Its name is “Enter As Fool – Exit As Beast.”
All great albums must have an instant banger, right? I remember I heard a rock song from the early 2000s with that beat, and I instantly decided that I had to make a song with the same beat. I mean, it can’t go wrong with that «disco beat»…
So based on that particular beat, I decided that this would be the album’s “banger” even before I had written a single riff. So I set some goals for the song which was basically a pace around 140 bpm, no blast beats, nothing too complicated, not too many riffs, no slow parts – it had to have an ongoing groove through the whole song, and preferably around 4 minutes long. Then I picked up the guitar and had some beers, and I guess the rest is history…
The song turned out exactly the way I imagined and there’s nothing I would do differently. This is also probably one of the songs on the album where I’m most satisfied with the lyrical arrangement. With such a groove, the vocals also had to be «on fire» and rather fast paced. The result, in my humble opinion, is that you get a top notch black metal infected rock song and it was the obvious choice to release as a single!
Are you not intrigued? We sure were. And sure enough, this song is a big groove monster, anchored by a big rocking beat and a big throbbing bass. But it’s a vicious piece of work too, thanks to the gnashing beastliness of the vocals and the cold, feral, slashing pulse of the guitars.
There’s also something darkly glorious about the music as the riffing rises (and as the vocals explode with strangled intensity) and as the lead guitar vividly glimmers; but it also becomes distressing. The music sounds like the emergence of some primitive evil, and like its victims running in fear.
So, if you imagined based on Unsgaard‘s description that this would be a lark, you’ll have to reconsider. It might make you want to jump and its hooks are strong, but it’s still damned dark
I hope we’ll find time to say more about the album as a whole, but suffice to say now that it’s a relentlessly dynamic and variable experience with strong melodic components; it quickly gets its clawed hands around your throat and won’t let go.
SARKOM on this album:
Unsgaard – Vocals
Galaaen – Lead guitars
Somby – Rhythm guitars / bass
Dominator – Drums
Exceed In2 Chaos was mixed by Jonas Jönsson at Studio LV5, and mastered by Roger Bergsten at Nevo Studios. It features artwork in collaboration with Cursed Art.
The Dusktone label will release the album on February 21st, on variant vinyl LP editions, CD, cassette tape, and digitally. Find pre-order options via the link below.
PRE-ORDER:
https://dusktone.bandcamp.com/album/exceed-in2-chaos
SARKOM:
https://sarkom.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/sarkom
https://www.instagram.com/sarkom_official/