Friday, November 20, 2015

Album Review: "And When the Sky Was Opened" by Serocs

And When the Sky Was Opened
Years ago, I was sitting in American Literature 1 with one of my best friends from high school, Lisa.

We were discussing how Morbid Angel was the heaviest god damned band in the world. Then we moved onto how just a few short years ago, Iron Maiden was as heavy as it got.

How in the world could it get heavier than, what we now today as, Tampa Bay Death Metal?

That's one of the things that routinely goes through my head when I'm listening to modern metal, because it is much heavier and much the same as their forebears, but also much different.

Serocs, the multinational death metal collective that recently picked up a Canadian as a full fledged member, is on the cusp of releasing their sophomore album that's lyrically and thematically cohesive.

Serocs
Serocs gets on with it....

and quick!

The worst thing death metal ever did was add overtures to their albums. Those are pretentious and annoying on shuffle.

The guitars are razor sharp and holding as much power.

Potential energy is non-existent on this album. It's all been spent as kinetic energy. The guitars are a full, frontal assault on the senses. The tone is that of legend and unique. I've not heard another band make use of this particular sound.

Though never a paint by numbers affair, from time to time, during the longer tracks, there is a feeling of sameness, but it never feels negative. The riffs are great and the sound is awesome, so it just goes on a little bit longer than most people would take it.

Intermixed in the laborious heavy riffing are little interludes that oftentimes feel completely unconnected to what the band is doing. There's a progressive element due to these left turns, but I'd tarry in calling them a progressive metal band.

They are firmly rooted in death metal, but those changes give the songs a unique and unexpected flavor.

Anger, empathy, and hopelessness.

This album hurts and it should.

Release: 11/27/15
Genre: Death Metal
Label: Comatose Music
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