AN NCS PREMIERE: SEROCS — “SCP-106”

 

The multi-national collective known as Serocs, whose line-up now includes members of First Fragment, Chthe’ilist, Funebrarum, Benighted, and Sutrah, have a new album headed our way. Under the title The Phobos/Deimos Suite, and adorned by an eye-catching painting by Nicola Samorì, it will be released on October 26th by Everlasting Spew Records.

We have a lot of information to share with you about this new album, as well as the premiere of the first single, but we’re going to depart from our usual practice of leaving the song stream to the end and get right to it — preceded only by a piece of cautionary medical advice: If you don’t have an oxygen mask with a fully charged canister nearby, you might try hyperventilating before you listen to this track.

And why do we say that? Because this technical death metal eruption is a head-whipping, skull-cracking, jaw-dropping display of jet-speed string mutilation and drum-kit destruction, spiced with equally fast, slithery melodic currents, with a roaring, howling monster behind the mic. It’s such a breathtakingly fast, technically extravagant blowtorch of extremity that it’s guaranteed to blast your pulse-rate through the roof. And on top of all that, the song turns out to be as catchy as it is electrifying.

Now that you’ve been warned, press play:

 

 

Now, as you’re catching your breath, here are the further details about the album that we promised you.

Conceptually, we’re told that The Phobos/Deimos Suite presents a story inspired by The Divine Comedy, A Christmas Carol, and similar tales. As the band explain: “It is the story of a selfish, piece-of-shit man who is terrified of death. Living in constant anxiety and isolation, he finds himself one night being attacked by sleep demons (mares), who transport him to Hell. There, he finds out that Hell is not the classic demon/fire/torture-ridden place, but Hell is inside our heads. Hell is our ego, our mistakes, our selfishness as mankind and as individuals.”

Of the album as a whole, guitarist Antonio Freyre elaborates: “We wanted to explore Hell, as many other death metal bands do. However, we tried to put a spin on it and talk about what I believe is the real kind of Hell. I don’t think Hell is the place everyone sings about. It’s not about gore, torture or demons. True Hell is the one we live through, the one in our heads. True Hell is the hate and destruction that we spread around on a daily basis.”

The song you’ve just heard, “SCP-106“, is part of this story. Its focus is an entity traditionally known as Charon/Haros/Phlegyas, who carries the souls of the newly deceased to the underworld. We’re further told that it’s also partially based on the following quotation from Friedrich Nietzsche:

“What, if some night, a demon were to (…) say to you: ‘This life as you now live it and have lived it, you will have to live once more and innumerable times more’ … Would you not (…) curse the demon who spoke thus?”

 

 

For those who might be encountering Serocs for the first time, it began in 2009 as Antonio Freyre‘s solo project but later transformed into a full band. With some line-up changes along the way, the group that recorded this new album consists of these accomplished performers:

Laurent Bellemare – Vocals
Antonio Freyre – Guitars
Phil Tougas – Guitars
Antoine Daigneault – Bass
Kevin Paradis – Drums

The album was recorded between Summer 2017 and Spring 2018, with each band member recording at their home country (Mexico, Canada, and France). It was then reamped, mixed, and mastered by Hugues Deslauriers (First Fragment, Augury).

We have these additional statements about the album from two more members of the current line-up, first from vocalist Laurent:

“My involvement in Serocs came along quite unexpectedly, and within only two months of being approached by Phil, Antonio and Antoine, the album was finished. It all happened really fast, which suits the pace of the music. It’s a dense yet catchy album, compact with riffs, and it achieves the remarkable task of capturing the atmosphere of a very specific era of death metal. At this point, there’s no use in naming the astonishing talents behind the music and the mixing board. In retrospect, I feel honored to be part of The Phobos/Deimos Suite and have learned a lot from the many challenges its crafting implied.”

And now, from guitarist Phil Tougas:

“The Phobos/Deimos Suite has the most challenging riffing I’ve recorded in a while, and the most arrogantly over the top drumming, vocal delivery and basslines I’ve heard in recent times. Performed by some of the most proficient musicians in the genre, every single riff you will hear on this album is an infernal deluge of notes and each song will bring you one step closer to the lava pits of Deimos (and chronic tendonitis).

“This is also the only album I’ve ever made that doesn’t have a single solo on it. The others wanted me to play a few leads on it at first but I decided “screw this, let’s make this album 100% riff-oriented”, just like the late 90s and early 2000s bands of the genre. No point in forcing it.

“There is a nostalgic element to this album, considering a lot of the material I’ve contributed to this album dates from several years ago (almost 10 years ago in a few instances). It is fulfilling to be able to craft an album with these ideas as it means the effort that was put into them back then was meant for something greater. Really proud of what we have accomplished.”

 

Everlasting Spew recommends this new album for fans of Spawn Of Possession, Cryptopsy, Severed Savior, and Gorguts. Below you’ll find pre-order info and links for more about Serocs:

PRE-ORDER:
CDs and shirts: http://www.everlastingspew.com/
Digital Copy: https://everlastingspewrecords.bandcamp.com

SEROCS:
https://www.facebook.com/serocsband/
https://serocs.bandcamp.com/