Artist: Sacrarium
Title: March To An Inviolable Death
Type: Album
Label: ATMF

Straight down the line no-frills black metal is very much the name of the game from this French outfit. Eschewing entirely any notions of anything ‘post’ or ‘progressive’, Sacrarium nail their colours to the mast from the off. A couple of throwaway atmospheric interludes notwithstanding, this is a relentless cavalcade of aggression and spite with lightening fast blasts and guttural vocal bile littering the landscape like shell-holes. The first thing that strikes one with ‘March to an Inviolable Death’ is that it is LOUD – very loud indeed. Whomever mastered this record clearly has the gain set to 11 on their equipment it sent my speakers into shivering paroxysms of fear within nanoseconds of the first blistering assault. For a while it works – the churning guitars and vocal barks of mainman V.R.S. seem to almost leap into the listeners ear – but after a while, it starts to irritate, the relentless volume and digital distortion evident in all over-mastered recordings becoming tiresome. Another casualty of the seemingly never-ending loudness war it seems.

Mastering issues aside, Sacrarium swiftly establish themselves as competent proponents of the genre. V.R.S. is a multi-talented chap – being responsible for the drums as well, he is capable of delivering some seriously speedy work with sections of opener ‘Heartless Visions’ or ‘In a Circle of Dead Seraphs’ almost dizzying in their velocity. The shrill lead guitar lines that pepper the tracks carry most of the melodies here, some successful, others a little more questionable in their choice of notes and placing. All told, the naked aggression, insistent lead-work and throaty vocals brings to mind Dutchmen Sauron on several occasions. For all this ferocity though, there is still something that feels a little unfinished about ‘March to an Inviolable Death’. Not enough happens in each song to prevent them starting to run rather uncomfortably into one another or indeed, to prevent Sacrarium from being in danger of drowning in a sea of sound-a-like rage-mongers. Only the unusual fretless Steve DiGorgio-esque bass that occasionally bursts to the foreground really adds an element of distinction to a familiar template. To stand out when playing this well-worn style, an act needs a spark, a differentiator – be that a distinctive atmosphere, sound or undeniably first-rate songwriting. At the moment, solid though this album is, Sacrarium currently have not demonstrated they possess the sufficient tools to rise above the crop.

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