Lost in the Beauty You Slay

Melodic Death/Gothenburg is far from a popular style among metal elitists, it seems. However, I think if they had a taste of this band, their icy hearts would melt.

Once the project of current In Flames drummer Daniel Svensson, Sacrilege add just the right amount of melody to their Swedish death metal attack. The first three songs aren't quite as good as the rest of the album in terms of vocals (Mikael Andersson does vocals on these tracks). But when Svensson takes over, it's total fucking devastation! He manages to incorporate both a guttural growl not out of place on an old Grave or Dismember album, as well as a more shrill, high pitched shriek one would almost expect to find on a black metal release. Very well done, Daniel!

The guitars (thankfully) are not the chugging repetition of most Gothenburg bands--there are actually REAL RIFFS! And some kick ass riffs, at that. They never beat a riff to death, incorporating enough variance to make the album interesting; at the same time, it is similar enough to ensure the album is very tight and cohesive. Nothing really seems out of place. The drumming is great, demonstrating Svensson's versatility behind a kit. He is a very able blastbeat drummer, and is also very quick on the double kick. Something that also impressed me were his drum fills--not a single piece of his kit goes untouched in a given song. A bit pretentious, maybe, but it adds some flair to each track.

My only real complaint would probably be the bass. There's no stroke of originality, and it's pretty much overshadowed by the superb drumming. Alas, it is only a small detail--this album will SLAY YOU!

Bottom line: If you like melodeath, you need to hear this. If you don't like Melodeath, you still need to fucking hear this.