Skarz is a Death Metal band from Greece
"What Remains" is out on 21.04.2020 Jewel case, CD; 500 copies; 8-page booklet
Co-released with Satanath Records (Russia) / Exhumed Records (Ecuador) / More Hate Productions (Russia)
Incredible. Where do all that bands come from ? I mean, the profusion is not a synonym for quality, of course, but here we're dealing with nothing less than a new monster. Sure, it's easy to write those few eulogistic words on paper and to ask you to take my word, but a few seconds of What Remains in your ears will be sufficient for the debate to end. Add to the picture the tremendous amount of musicians responsible for the carnage : two. After a quick investigation (well, thanks to Metal Archives), explanations start to fall : it's not a duo of gifted musicians we're facing right now, it's an actual elite corps of the death metal army. Judge by yourself : Kostas Sarcastic (guitars, vocals) is involved in two other bands and his co-worker, going by the mysterious moniker of Dimon's Night (bass, drums), has joined forces with, er, almost ten. Again, this doesn't necessarily entail all of them are brilliant, but with a dozen albums having been born all in all and many different styles having been practiced, the accumulated experience must be solid. And it tells something about passion, doesn't it ?
"Eponymous" death metal (understand, when bands evolve within the limits set by Chuck Schuldiner and his work) sometimes remains a bit complicated to me, and I feel less connected with it than with Swedish death or thrash-death the way bands from Eastern Europe, like Vader or Krabathor, play it. My favourite Death tracks come from The Sound Of Perseverance (come on, throw me some potatoes peeling) but still I love listening to any masterpiece those legends have issued before that swan song. Things like that happen when you watch referential movies by presumably not-to-be-missed sophisticated directors : those movies are very pleasant to watch, but you know you don't understand everything. It's no wonder Skarz make me feel the exact same way : the genre is not really my cup of tea, yet objectively, I would be deaf and mad not to conclude their first try is a masterpiece.
Listen to the drums, flawless. Listen to the vocals, basically exactly what you expect in that type of extreme music. Listen to the riffs.Complex but fluid and complementary. The web wowen by both friends (I guess) is incredibly rich and tells a story that you refuse to let down. I've been listening to those eight tracks again and again and I'm captivated by what is told here, musically speaking. Actually, Skarz are so good that they would be able to make you get into that kind of death metal in spite of your initial reluctance. The technical level is above suspicion and the intensity injected in the composition and the execution allowed the whole to raise even higher standards. "Skarz", the first track, introduces you to the world of the Greek band so fiercely that you instantly guess the attraction will last until the end. And when "Kind Of God" expires, that idea is engraved in your minds : you cannot be wrong, Skarz is for you, whatever your usual tastes.
Sample:
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