Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Sorcery - Arrival At Six



Sorcery is one of the more unknown Swedish death metal bands from the early 90’s. They only put out one album, and eventually disbanded. Like countless others, they’ve returned and put out a new album. Judging by the cover alone, they’re off to a good start! Musically, however, they actually appear to take much more influence from modern-day Autopsy than the Swedish death metal scene. Of course, Autopsy was the main influence for the scene, but “Arrival At Six” is much more comparable Autopsy’s “Macabre Eternal” than Entombed, Dismember, or the like.

From the moment the album begins, you’ll notice it is a noisy affair. It doesn’t feel like the instruments were really mixed; rather, this record sounds like everybody turned up their amps until they could compete with the drums and then started recording. The music comes across as much more barbaric and angry than most death metal today. It doesn't sound like this album was recorded with the famed HM-02 guitar pedal, but the guitar tone is still crunchy. Riffwise, there are a couple of really memorable moments. The main riff in “Created From Darkness and Rage” is a tremolo-picked attack that sounds as if you are riding the train on the album cover down to hell. Some of the other strong tracks are driven by the vocal lines of Ola Malmström. Both the title track and “We Who Walk Among The Dead” feature some of death metal’s catchiest choruses. Most of the remaining songs are as enjoyable, but less memorable. 

If you like death metal that isn’t overly polished, you’ll enjoy “Arrival At Six”. Even though there are many differences between Sorcery and their Swedish contemporaries, the bands are similar enough that this will be worth picking up. If not for the music, buy this album on vinyl for the artwork!

Be sure to check out and like Sorcery on Facebook!

Highlights
"We Who Walk Among The Dead"
"Created From Darkness And Rage"
"Arrival At Six"

Final Rating
3.75/5 or 75%. 

Written by Scott