Lovingly pinched from Metal as Fuck: Two years ago a Norwegian project drew the attention of the metal world: a band called Sarke released their first album called Vorunah and had a bit of raw sound to show, in a way that only Celtic Frost were capable of doing. Of course people tried to make a parallel between Tom Warrior’s child and this new project. But one thing is to have been influenced by some artist. The other is to be just a copycat. Of course Sarke was much, much more than a mere copy of CF. They had their own style.
For those of you who still don’t know, Sarke is the drummer of acts such as Tulus, Khold and Valhall. Here he plays everything, and has the most perfect partner in crime for doing this job: none less than Nocturno Culto (Darkthrone).
For the sophomore album, the duo is back together and more creative than ever. Called Oldarhian, this is what I dreamt metal would sound like in 2011. It’s not “modern”, yet it is innovative, strange and tasty without compromising the metallic side of the equation in an enchanting way that only Norwegian bands can do.
Differently from Vorunah, Oldarhian has a more sophisticated approach, I can say it’s a step forward from what the first album was.
From the get-go, the track Condemn shows the cold gestalt that dominates the whole album. Mid-paced, with defined phrases, sick and with the Nocturno Culto’s vocalization giving a flat sentiment of intended apathy, contrasting with the crazy creativity of Sarke himself. Doing everything else, Sarke seems to know his limitations as a multi-instrumentalist, taking full advantage from what he knows, and delivering it with comeliness. Simple doesn’t mean subpar and the blend of punk, thrash and black metal is simply perfect. I wouldn’t dare to label it.
Pilgrim of The Occult shows a strange and enthralling hypnotic riff just to debouch in an obscure chorus that sends shivers up my spine. It has a strange tempo in the middle of the song, made for headbanging and every time I hear it, I can’t help but stop what I’m doing and get the air guitar out.
Continue reading: Sarke – Oldarhian (Indie Recordings) | Metal as Fuck.
Tags: Album of the day, Daniel Death, darkthrone, Indie Recordings, Metal as Fuck, Nocturno Culto, Oldarhian, Sarke
This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 11th, 2011 at 4:01 am and is filed under 2011, Album of the Day . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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