Sarcous
Savages
6.3
Savages is a four song demo from the Rochester, New York act Sarcous, whose music can easily be placed within the melodic black metal style pioneered by Dissection in the 90’s. It is thusly rife with tremolo harmonies, thrash diversions, double bass attack, and screeched vocals, although the songs themselves rarely attempt the epic scope of the style’s originators.
The introductory “A Summons to the Gathering Dark” sets the scene with piano, rise-and-fall tremolo work, and some very befitting leads (the band’s finest attribute). Following are “At Dusk” and “Bewakening,” similar and enjoyable tracks featuring yet more engrossing soloing and a well-thought-out guitar and drum tandem. Sarcous show a moderately mature attention to detail in the arrangement and instrumental interplay of these tunes, resulting in fine and memorable examples of metal in the vein of The Somberlain or Vittra. The demo ends on a much lower note however, with the relatively boring “Lost, Bound, and Never Found,” a song so overtly obsessed with the “Middle Eastern” metal key that it falls on its face attempting to build intensity.
In quick summation, the band’s instrumental abilities are very capable, the production is demo-quality but appropriate, and the songs that hit the spot do so nicely. It rests almost entirely within the stylistic framework, but as a quick demo Savages gives Sarcous little to be ashamed of, and quite a bit to build upon.
