Sargeist - The Rebirth Of A Cursed Existence (2013) [Gorgatz]

Sargeist - The Rebirth Of A Cursed Existence (2013) [Gorgatz]



INFO:

If there is any one person responsible for the current stylistic form of crust driven black metal in Finland, Shatraug is as guilty a party as they come. He is either currently in, or been in almost 20 bands. The most notable/popular being Horna and Behexen, but his unholy seal of harsh melodies and acidic guitar tone is a defining factor that spins a malevolent strand throughout his entire body of work. Sargeist is yet another brooding labor of black metal art for the man that has produced 3 well received full-length albums and a wicked amount of split and EP releases that are difficult to keep up with.

The Rebirth of a Cursed Existence isn’t a new album, rather a compilation release that compiles all of Sargeist’s vinyl only material on 1 72 minute CD so that the completists out there won’t wreck their mom’s credit in trying to obtain everything on ebay. To the uninitiated, Sargeist have a lo-fi sound and production at their back for a bleak misanthropic desire for lifelessness sonically, but Shatraug and crew use it effectively alongside a musical pulse that feels like frozen Celtic Frost riffs with that mid-paced tempo, and dissonant “melodies” that scrape the senses with harshness and despair. The heavy movement in the tempo and riffs at times reveals the punk spirit often found in the Finnish scene and it keeps the listener trained on the ancient hooks with head nodding abandon as on the plodding track “Sinister Glow of the Funeral Torches”. Hoath Torog’s (also in Behexen and Lords of the Left Hand) vocals are like ice glaciers scraping over razors as he further destroys any feelings of hope and life with his piercing cries for darkness.

Sargeist’s blend of hellish melody and affinity for slower paced black metal in a lot of ways sets them apart from other bands that sound a lot like them due to their unwavering dedication to their craft, but this isn’t saying much due to the fact that there are probably a dozen releases in your black metal collection that enchant a similar sonic woodland. That’s the thing with Sargeist…. when they are on, I have always appreciated the experience, but there isn’t enough of an engaging atmosphere on display here to fully win me over to hunt down all of their material. If you are more in-tune with the harshness and stubbornly unoriginal sound, then The Rebirth of a Cursed Existence is the perfect release to fill in the holes that may have been lurking in your Sargeist collection. Typical yet decent black metal.

In my humble opinion Sargeist are one of the greatest purveyors of ‘orthodox’ Black Metal in operation today. Those who doubt the veracity of this claim are advised to go and check out 2010’s incredible “Let the Devil In”.

"Rebirth of a Cursed Existence" is not a new studio album but a compilation of all the songs that were previously available only on tape, vinyl and compilation. All of the tracks have been re-mastered to produce a sound that while not awe inspiring is good enough to satisfy all but the most assiduous critics. Most importantly, the sound is consistent. How annoying is it when you pick up a release like this and one of the tracks is so inaudible that you turn up the volume to hear what is happening and then your speakers explode when the next song comes on?

TRACKLIST:

01. Reaping With Curses And Plague 05:13
02. The Rebirth Of A Cursed Existence 05:48
03. Sinister Glow Of The Funeral Torches 05:34
04. Wraith Messiah 07:07
05. Cursed Be The Flesh I Have Spared 04:30
06. Vorax Obscurum 03:59
07. Black Unholy Happiness 05:37
08. The Covenant Rite 04:15
09. Dead Ravens Memory 06:17
10. Crimson Wine 04:31
11. The Dark Embrace 05:50
12. The Crown Of Burning Stars 06:17
13. The Moon Growing Colder 03:11
14. Nightmares And Necromancy 04:08

Bitrate: 320 k
Genre: Black
Subgenre: Black Metal
Size: 165.94 MB

Credit Goes To LaVey Of Rockbox