Sacraments of Evil

Messy Indonesian blackened thrash retains the bombastic chaos that marked the subgenre out in its proto form in the mid-1980s on this debut EP from Svraoz. ‘Sacraments of Evil’ reaches back to the early days of The Exploited and Discharge as a bedrock for this cataclysmically evil punk orientated sound. Metallic elements supervene on this atonality by way of melodic licks, screeching guitar leads, and more ambitious song structures than their punk forbears. Indeed, one way to approach this EP is as a window into time and the process of evolution itself, as we witness hardcore punk evolve into early Bathory and beyond.

Every aspect of the delivery mechanism seems tailored towards bolstering a sense of authenticity, a pride and revelry in this style takes this beyond mere adulation for the past and into a direct expression of artistic intent. The playing is sloppy but ambitious. The production is raw but intentional. The delivery is melodramatic yet utterly free of irony.

The mix is deliciously murky and obscure, lending the overall package a gripping sense of threat, an emanation genuinely not of this world. Drums, although present, are aggressively suppressed in the mix, with only crash cymbals and the occasional fill being discernible for lengthy passages. Guitars offer a reverb drenched barrage of chugging, old school thrash and punk riffs, supplemented by barbaric lead passages, either via atonal wails of aggression or fleshed out structuralist solos. Ghoulish distorted vocals populate the background, a presence more than a lead instrument, adding cinematic flare and much needed solidity.

Given the rampant sloppiness of the package, it’s a wonder ‘Sacraments of Evil’ manages to retain the cohesion required to communicate the tight rigours of blackened thrash. But form is maintained, with Svraoz keeping it together just enough to articulate an aggressive bight of occultist extreme metal, whilst allowing ample room for the utter mess of darkness that surrounds the central threads of these pieces. A wonderfully spontaneous, loose, creative approach to a genre that at times veers into bland homogeneity at times. Svraoz retain the theatre, the virtuosity, and the street level immediacy of the genre, bound together in a delivery mechanism compelling in its sincerity.

Originally published at Hate Meditations