vote
7.0
- Bands:
SARCASM - Duration: 00:40:31
- Available from: 05/29/2026
- Label:
-
Hammerheart Records
The creative streak of Sarcasm does not seem to be exhausted, as from 2015 (the year of the reunion after the activity of the nineties) to today, they have released six official albums, marking a simply extraordinary roadmap. The quality of their proposal, after some missteps committed in the first post-reunion works, seemed to have stabilized in the two previous full releases released and is fortunately also confirmed in the very recent “Lifeforce Omnibound”.
Rather unexpectedly, in fact, the band seems to have found its own ideal dimension, going from time to time to release a set of compositions that surpass in quality and involvement those contained in the previous album.
Already in the review of “Mourninghoul” we had the opportunity to appreciate Jesper Ojala's entry behind the drums, a fruitful addition that had turned the shrunken and uneventful sound of the Swedes towards much more dynamic and lively shores, reaching the maximum level of energy today in the new songs.
In fact, “Essence Of Existence” stands out for its remarkable speed and intensity for Sarcasm, who do not miss a beat even with the subsequent “Altering The Perception” and “The Reward Of Adversity”, embellishing the texture of the latter with some more reasoned passages that are not at all evil which will also take over among the plots of “Crumbling Mind Edifice”.
The first part of the album therefore shows a brazen predisposition for aggression, an element present only in flashes in previous albums and a source of sincere enthusiasm in the folds of this “Lifeforce Omnibound”.
Less brilliant, however, are some ideas on the second side of the platter, which already from “Plunged Into Paradox” returns to insist on a few too many violins in terms of phrasing and melodies, while fortunately maintaining a brake and without ever completely losing an animosity that keeps the general listening active.
Objectively, the weakest song entitled “A Concept Older Than Time” would undoubtedly have been one of the highlights of “Esoteric Tales Of The Unserene” or “Stellar Stream Obscured”, thus underlining how the average quality of the band has risen enormously compared to the first steps taken in the new millennium. “Empirical Life Metaphysical” then returns to hit hard thanks to its enveloping sounds and the powerful blast-beat of the drums, once again raising the general opinion and closing the discussion with a peremptory and decisive manner.
Sarcasm's music therefore seems to be based less and less on the melodic side and more and more on the black/death side, using harmonies and melodies only to give refinement and differentiation to the tracks, which however are clearly based on a more extreme approach to composition than ever before.
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
