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Nothing new, but something noteworthy.-
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| Sacrarium: March to an Inviolable Death |
Black Metal
ATMF Records, De Tenebrarum Principio
July 1st, 2009 / March 8th, 2011
- A.C.R.H. - 1:44
- Heartless Visions - 7:10
- Demolish by Himself - 5:57
- In a Circle of Dead Seraphs - 5:56
- Phantomatic Landscape - 5:05
- Through Centuries - 5:02
- Terribilis est Locus Iste - 3:45
- This is the Final Warning - 6:25
- Outro - 5:33
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| Review Information |
Release length: 46:37
Review posted on March 6th, 2011
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| | Overall Score: 8.5/10 |
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| Discography |
Discography covers all information available up to day of review and is updated if future albums are reviewed. |
| Full-Length(s): |
March to an Inviolable Death (2009)
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| Demo(s): |
Land of forgotten Souls (2004) | Lost By Your Belief (2006)
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| Review |
Sacrarium is a Black Metal band that originally formed in Sarreguemines, France, but later wound up relocating to Ham-sous-Varsberg. After two demo recordings, the two-piece band (with a third member only being a session musician) issued their debut full-length effort, March to an Inviolable Death themselves, which later wound up being picked up through ATMF/De Tenebrarum Principio for reissue in 2011. Not much has been said about this band at the point of this review, and the band is staying pretty far back int he shadows due to this, but chances are good that's where the band likes it. But, either way, does the band deserve a little more light to be shed on them, or is this recording just another independent Black Metal effort that didn't even need the record label treatment in the first place?
Well, what it comes down to is that March to an Inviolable Death isn't anything all that new or original, but it's very well done and has a great amount of atmosphere to it. The music on the recording is typically a faster pace, but in no way reflects today's Black Metal approach of needless blast beats from start to finish with a lack of variety. Instead, the music manages to retain a rather brutal, hellish atmospheric trait to the songs, matched with well timed drumming that keeps the flow and intensity going superbly. The vocals are powerful and energetic, exactly what one would expect when you hear Black Metal, and really matches that atmosphere and intensity perfectly with it's great range of sharp, stern higher pitched screaming and deeper, somewhat gutteral roaring. Each song on here is catchy, and just continues to grind away at the listener, but also manages to take the traditional French emotional Black Metal approach that is quickly growing into more then just an underground musical approach in the Metal Community, and it's eloquently placed at the proper times through the guitar chords throughout each track, such as on the fantastic "Demolish by Himself", an awe-inspiring Black Metal song that encompasses all of those positive traits and runs with them full force without ever taking things too far or going out of control with either the atmosphere, emotion, or reaching levels the band cannot obtain.
Sadly, as you continue through the album, some tracks just don't quite contain the rich emotional and powerful sound the earlier tracks retain. while "A.C.R.H." is just an introduction and doesn't do much, "Heartless Visions" is a strong track, and "Demolish by Himself" is clearly the flagship of the album. Each track that follows is still good, but it's just nothing as strong, though still rather impressive at times. The band still manages to place some real emotion in their music at times, like some of the guitars on "Phantomatic Landscape", but eventually you happen upon songs like "Through Centuries" which just sound rather generic. The music goes at a slower pace, doesn't necessarily have that emotional strength to it, both in music and the vocals, and it just sounds like typical Black Metal with a little more energy than most bands would put it into it. "Terribilis est Locus Iste", however, is just a typical Black Metal instrumental that, sadly, doesn't do much for the album, and really comes off more as something that would have been far more beneficial as an actual song and not just a just shy of four minutes instrumental. The one minute and seventeen second droning ambient clip that starts the song definitely doesn't help to hurt that statement either, especially when the guitar hammer in at such a faster tempo with well-paced drums backing it up and never faltering, causing the listener to sit attentively to await vocals from what feels like an epic build up to their entrance in the song. In fact, had they done that, this would have made a far better and much more suiting start to the album then "A.C.R.H." did.
One of the more interesting elements of the recording is the bass. The production on the recording retains a somewhat raw quality, still being pretty clear though, and you can really hear the bass nicely in each song. While it doesn't necessarily add anything new to it, typically following the main guitar line throughout the song, sometimes, like in "In a Circle of Dead Seraphs" and "Through Centuries", the bass almost stands out like a traditional guitar, having passages in the music where it takes on more of a louder "twang" then a deeper bass sound. It's a little odd when you hear it, as you immediately believe it's just a back-up guitar, until you realize that the deep bass is gone from the mix. In a sense, it almost acts like a higher pitched bass solo, though it's not really a solo, and it doesn't take anything away when that deep bass influence is gone since it's still there, just a loud more dominant in the mix. Of course at times it can feel a little tacked on, like at the end of "Terribilis est Locus Iste", but for the most part it is a nice little addition to the music.
March to an Inviolable Death is far from a bad release, and sure, it's nothing all that original or new, but it does have some tracks that are just full energy and emotion. Sadly, those elements seem to taper off after a while, and a few tracks don't quite live up to the expressive tracks that jump started March to an Inviolable Death. But, what is presented here is well done Black Metal that any fan of the style can sit down and enjoy without a problem. Sacrarium is definitely a band to keep your eyes on, and it's great to see that this effort wound up being reissued in it's entirety, making it more widely available then just the band's original fanbase from being a self-released effort.
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