The Pitch: Lavadome Productions releases the CD version of Sacrosanct from technical blackened death metal band Epoch.
What I Like: For starters, the vocals are just filthy. It's got some of that Primitive Man grotesqueness to it. Blackened, throat ripping howls and brutal lows. Then you've got the guitarwork, which is equally wretched. This isn't your pristinely produced, popular taken on tech death. This is more like Ulcerate or Seputus: it chooses to be technical solely in the pursuit of always being more broken and mangled-sounding. The riffs are highly dissonant and the drums disturbingly shizophrenic as with recent releases from Deathspell Omega. I really love that strangled tapping part in "Hangman Paradox."
What I Don't Like: Like many releases, it could be more consistent. I feel like sometimes the engagement gets lost in pursuit of being technical. In my mind you shouldn't have to sacrifice one for the other if you are truly reaching for the stars, but it's a tough balance.
The Verdict: Overall a well-played and always decrepit outing from a talented group. If you missed it before or wanted a physical copy, now is as good a time as ever to pick it up on CD or digital.
Flight's Fav's: Vision Absolute, Nine, Hangman Paradox