Info
- Band(s): Black Sorcery
- Label(s): Eternal Death
- Release Format(s): 12" vinyl
- Release Year: 2023
- Review Date: March 16, 2024
- Author(s): Acwulf, Snares of Impurity
Hailing from Rhode Island USA Black Sorcery is an unholy pact consisting of ex-members of Bog of the Infdel, Sangus, Nefarious, and Sorcery. The result can only be described as a black mass that will leave your body, soul and mind eternally ripped apart. The quartet’s birth was in disease, in early part of 2020 and you can hear how much that has had an influence on their sound. If a plague was an entity, it would be Black Sorcery, you can hear the sheer hatred for mankind and the very need to inflict suffering and disease upon anyone that crosses their path. The vocals carry that force more than anything they rattle around in your head long after the album has finished like a demon crawling around and constantly screaming in your mind only offering you a noose for comfort. The guitars make you feel like you’re being spun around in a 100mph whirlwind, and the riffs just keep pounding you, never letting you catch your breath, on top of that the drums make you feel like everything is crashing around you while the bass rumbles in the background like a constant thunderstorm, all the while that demon is still in your head.
For me, ‘Deciphering Torment Through Malediction’ is very reminiscent of ‘Rituale Satanum’ by Behexen and it leaves me with the same unquenchable thirst for more that I had for that album as soon as it ended. The production between the two is very similar, the sound of the vocals and the guitars especially but still far enough apart that they have their own distinguishable sound.
The stripped down and “back to basics” approach that too many bands in the Black Metal scene have moved away from nowadays is truly what makes ‘Deciphering Torment Through Malediction’ great. It sounds feral, uninviting with hypnotic melodies almost as if they are performing a dark ritual, you can feel the aggression and it truly feels like the band has nothing but utter contempt for you when you listen to it. This is black metal, what true Black Metal sounds like, raw and stripped down to something that resembles a carcass being devoured by maggots, a vehicle where hatred can truly flow and be expressed. This is what Black Sorcery has captured here. If I had to pick out one track to get you started with this band, I’d probably give you ‘Final Meditations on Despair’ but in all honesty there isn’t a weak one on the album.
I strongly recommend you check it out and I promise it will become a staple in your collection.
