vote
7.5
- Band:
Sargeist - Duration: 00:40:27
- Available from: 28/05/2025
- Label:
-
World Terror Committee
Historical name of the European Black Metal circuit, the Sargeist re-emerge from the darkness with a disc that is above all a proof of strength and resilience after the line-up defections of recent years.
A refreshing prayer from which the will of the guitarist/founder member Shatraug emerges raising not to give up and to continue with his head down on the path (diabolical) traced by works of the caliber of “Satanic Black Devotion” or “Let the Devil in”, making even more square around his figure – so much so that today we also find him at the microphone – and the experience of musicians as VJS (Adapter, Demoncy, Nightbringer) and Spellgoth (Horna, Night Shall Drape Us, Trollheims Grott).
Surprisingly released in conjunction with the European tour with Barshasketh and Sotherion, denying the logic of a 'regular' promotion as already done for the latest works in the studio (the EP “Death Veration” and the full-length “unbound”), “Flame with flame” immortalize the Finnic band on levels of inspiration still very dignified, which confirm its status. Reached in the most fanatic and militant underground even in the face of an evolution that, on paper, could know of deposition of weapons, genuflection at the foot of the altar of the revived Melodic Black Metal trend.
Because if it is true that “Flame …”, to the dresses of misunderstandings, is configured as the most melodious and controlled album of the project, a reflection of an artist who in recent times has given particular prominence to certain registers (think of the epic drapes of “Nyx (Hymnejä Yölle)” of the Horna, of which it is also part), it is equally true that such a cut, for those who know the history of the group, will not know how to know the story. As an absolute or destabilizing novelty, indeed.
On balance, the Sargeist have never been the equivalent of the Marduk or Dark Funeral, and the melody, even in the most fierce and iconoclastic moments, has always represented the backbone of their proposal. If in three decades there have remained an entity 'for a few', it was only by choice, and not for a sound who knows how difficult or angular, and this collection published by World Terror Committee does not seem destined to change the cards on the table, even in the face of the characteristics above.
As mentioned, the latter are expanded and invested with a very central role within the narrative, but starting from a sacred and unconditional respect for the primordial essence of black metal and – above all – from a damned emotion capable of permeating even the most direct passages, giving the impression that, following the stairs intertwined with guitars, it is actually possible to access some underground ritual, between lights of the lights and smokes. of incense.
A ferine flow that, from the “An Eternal Dream Beyond The Accursed Porten” Overner to the final “Rite of Ascension”, enhances the incessant repetition of the riffs and Shatraug's ability to baste as traditional as well as captivating, now leveraging on a sense of victory towards the light forces, now on melancholy arias inseparable by the vast and icy landscapes of the Finland, for listening that – net of general uniformity, of a second part less on fire and of a controversial Screaming, far from the intensity expressed in the past by Hath Torog and Profundus – soon sounds like a 'must' for the most faithful followers.
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
