Obscure Old Remains

Finnish old school death metal heavyweights Sadistik Forest are back with a new EP of morbid delights, out via Transcending Obscurity Records.

Blasting drums fire us right into a macabre crawl of ferocious guitars, storming forth with mighty instrumental excellence, the death metal attack hits hard from the onset. Marching rhythms and cavernous atmospheres merge to conjure a foul and brutal example of pure savagery as the maniacal vocals snarl into life atop the swirling murk of total old school barbarity. The visceral and unrelenting execution of these tracks is magnificent with huge layers of thick bass blended into a firestorm of guitar riffing madness with pulverising drums to launch it all forth from the darkness, aided by a monstrous vocal performance, it is clear why Sadistik Forest have garnered so much in the underground scene. A monolithic start to this short but feisty opus.

Delving further into the abyss, doomy moments meet headbanging grooves that stomp with unrivalled force, betwixt cacophonous atmospherics and bestial rampages, the variety offered in a mere 20 minutes of top-quality death metal is palpable as we see their morbid offerings unfurl in an unpredictable and brilliant fashion across all 4 songs, each of which is a memorable slab of total carnage. Melodic soloing adds soulful touches to the grim and ravenous assault while never staying too long to feel like a break from the brutality, always soldiering onwards into merciless onslaughts of violence. With a brooding and doomy undertone amidst the aggressive chaos, there is not only sonic but emotional juxtaposition that shows under the skin of death metal there is so much to offer when it is done right, as evidenced here.

A stellar new release from one of the Finnish underground favourites, whom have a sound of their own that harnesses all the great old school death metal titans while definitely bringing something new, tasteful and brutal to the table.

Written for www.nattskog.wordpress.com

Old-school death metal Finns, Sadistik Forest haven’t been all that consistent with release schedules throughout their almost 15 year history, though Obscure Old Remains follows up Morbid Majesties a great deal faster than it followed on from Death, Doom, Radiation. On the other hand, this is only an EP and took 3 years, so who knows how long until the next full-length. In the intermittent years, a new drummer has arrived in the form of Jimi Myöhänen, who is also active in several other bands like the rest of this quartet. On the evidence of these 4 cuts, it makes no difference what timeframe or collective the band use: Sadistik Forest will still do their shit in the same manner as Purtenance and Grave before them - dirty, obscure, and nasty.

The choking thickness of the guitar tone confirms the good judgement in naming Obscure Old Remains right away, this sounding indeed like a bog body being dragged up through the mud in all its disgusting decrepitude. Enough attention has been paid to the dull thump of the drums that the album gains power from its rhythms, but not so much that it cleans up the movements of songs like ‘Barbarian’, which remains suitably barbaric. In terms of actual songcraft, the mid-length cuts run through quite a few sections of riffing and keep the pace high, while ‘Nihil’ and ‘Waters Black’ switch between doomier grooves and ravaging faster riffing, the former achieving instrumental memorability by playing cheeky rhythmic tricks at a breakdown and then piling into the longest section of rolling riffage on the EP, replete with glimmering solo.

The overall quality of this short-player is only questionable in the light of its quantity, since fans may consider 19 minutes of new music meagre return for their long anticipation. I view Obscure Old Remains as a fun blast through some nice old-school conceits, and I’d imagine that’s how Sadistik Forest look at it too. This isn’t intended to be too groundbreaking or expansive, just a lot of grim fun. That may sound contradictory, but these deathly Finns understand the oxymoron perfectly well.