Sørgelig "Apostate" CD

„Apostate“ is the first full length by Greek old school black metal commando Sorgelig. This is some seriously grim and frosty stuff so everyone looking for coziness and ambient sounds should look elsewhere. Fans of raw and direct black metal should absolutely give this one a look.
The typical tremolo picks and the pummeling blasts can be found here as well and build the basis of Sorgelig’s music. Like each black metal band they have put a lot of emphasis on building a sinister. This album surely is no atmospheric black metal as the main focus is still on the riffs and the relentless drum attacks but there are a lot of desperate and haunting harmonies dwelling in the background. Eerie and bleak themes presented by the lead guitar are always present – sometimes more subtle and in other places as leading elements defining certain parts of the song.
The greatest aspect of the album is how the harmonies of the lead guitars have been woven into the whole picture and how they work as contrast to the aggressive attacks of the main chords. Sorgelig have a fantastic talent for creating haunting and beautiful melodies that feel nihilistic and depressive but also offer a glimmer of hope at the same time. They have worked with the interaction of musky moments and lighter pieces and has melted all those elements into one great piece of sinister art. The ambient harmonies dwelling in the dark and some acoustic pieces build a fantastic and gloomy atmosphere.
The drumming is very intense and most of the time pretty ferocious. However, Sorgelig have not forgotten to implement some of those eerie and slower parts in which the music sounds like the equivalent to an undead ghost making the first lurching steps after having been reawakened.
Rounded off by howling vocals and a great production job I can only recommend “Apostate” to any fan of pure and captivating black metal. This is a band that exactly knows what they want to achieve with their music.

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