Sarath – Siste Indre (2010)

Norway might suck at basketball, football, and countless other sports, however, they are number one in producing Black Metal bands that can release cold and grim releases that will hypnotize you from beginning to end. Sarath is yet another one of those Norwegian bands that can kill with their music and don’t even break a sweat while doing it.

“Sistre Indre” is the band’s (one-man band) first ‘full-length’ release in almost a decade of existence, and we must say that it was well worth the wait. Featuring 4 songs and around 31 minutes of music we wouldn’t really can this a full-length album. However, due to the repetitive nature of the band’s music, “Siste Indre” feels much longer and completely crushing.

The most notable for us on “Siste Indre” is the very dense and crushing atmosphere created by Sarath. While this sound and the band itself is not innovative of revolutionary, the atmosphere is crafted very nicely with the repetitive riffs and the harsh screams. This album feels also a bit ‘down-tempo’ while in comparison to other more conventional Black Metal bands.

The album opens up with “Mellom Livshunger og Dødsangst” a song that seems very enigmatic at first, and from the first minute you can’t really know what to fully expect from the band. Immediately after one minute, Sarath opens with a hellish scream and a full on riffing attack. The drumming is pretty standard and does a good job in keeping things in line. This track combines a good amount of aggressiveness and atmospheric elements, giving the album a very solid start.

The rest of the album flows very nicely and the band does a great job in creating a thick atmosphere by crafting solid (but repetitive riffs) and song structures that while not groundbreaking they get the job done really nicely. The band’s music is very crushing and will make your soul dry, precisely the reason why we love this type of Black Metal.

If you are looking for a solid Black Metal album with the Norwegian vibe, look no further and get “Siste Indre”. While you will find nothing new in this release, you will get good musicianship and the right amount of repetition to create solid tracks of Black Metal, the way that only Norwegian bands know how to do it.

Release: March 2010

Country: Norway