(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. Continue reading »

Early next month Dark Essence Records will release Anti-Cosmic Art, the new fourth album by the Norwegian black metal ravagers who call themselves Sarkom. Today we help premiere the second advance track from the album, “Previous associates, now as targets for the gun“.

As you can see, the album is emblazoned with immediately eye-catching cover art, thanks to Spectrvm Lvsitani. In addition, it features guest guitar contributions by Shining’s Peter Huss, Ronni Le Tekrø from TNT and Roquefire, and Trollfest’s Sagstad, as well as guest vocals by Alfahanne’s frontman Pehr Skjoldhammer.

Produced with a clear, powerhouse sound, the album’s energy is explosive. Take this new song, for example. Continue reading »