Sarcovore is a really brutal and technical death metal band from Greece. Formed in 2019 by Theo (guitar & bass) of Birth of Depravity fame, the band originally started out as a one-man band. However, the debut album, "The Calling", was recorded as a trio, with Greg and Mitsos on vocals. The promo CD-R contains 9 songs, and with the exception of the instrumental track "In Purity of Darkness", everything is about brutal sonic destruction in the beloved death metal genre. Sarcovore's music is not about modern interpretations of brutal death metal, on the contrary, it is influenced by the initial brutality of the good old 90s American death metal bands, but also by the inhuman pace and technical bravura of the brutal hordes of the mid-2000s. The title track, for example, sounds very much like a tribute to the great Monstrosity. By this I mean that they are not only similar to them musically, but also in terms of vocal parts. Then there are songs where they go absolutely crazy in terms of speed and technicality, like "Smash the New World Order", "Adjacent Dystopia" or "Designed to Kill". At over 26 minutes, the album has a very transparent and balanced mix and sounds super massive. By the way, Greg and Mitsos do a pretty sick job on vocals, sometimes even reminding me of Glen Benton's dual vocal arrangements. And just so you know, they have a song called "Uncompromising Death Metal", so you better take this band seriously, because it's about the purity of death metal with maximum attitude. This great death metal material was released on cassette by Against Human Filth Productions and on CD by Sevared Records. I personally really enjoyed listening to "The Calling" and I bet all death metal fans will too, so if you're interested you can place your order using any of the links below. This is old-school brutal death metal at its best!!!

Sars is a four-piece band from Rzeszów (Poland), formed in 2018. "Synthetic Domination" is their most recent release, but they also have a 5-song EP called "thRough Reality" and a single called "Walk Through Shadows", both released in 2021. The band describes their style as "blastematicgroovecore". Quite a strange definition of style, isn't it? Well, their music is quite extreme and heavy, downtuned, abstract and futuristic, so very modern sounding. There are plenty of blast beats in their repertoire, but I'd say it's the combination of groove and ethereal atmospheres that dominates this 29+ minute debut album. Sometimes you get the vibe of Meshuggah and Decapitated, or an Asesino/Brujeria-like mechanical riffing in "The Race" and "Sinister Roar", but there's actually a lot more to their music. The membership of Sars is Marcin "Dyvan" Pitorak (vocals), Marcin "Cinek" Jasiewicz (guitars), Marcin "Baran" Barañski (bass) and Maciej "Surovy" Surowiec (drums). What the quartet did in these 8 songs is like capturing moving images of a decaying, self-destructive, post-apocalyptic world. And the end result is, dare I say it, mind-blowing and soul-stirring. Cinek is also responsible for the devastating soundscape, while Dyvan wrote all the lyrics. Mac Janas designed the cover artwork, which aptly sums up the concept of the lyrics. The 6-panel digipak is quite well designed and available directly from the band. If you're looking for quality extreme music with a futuristic approach and made in Poland, then I definitely recommend Sars!!!

"Victory Through Chaos" has quite an interesting story, as the music for the album was originally composed between 2004 and 2007, recorded as a demo in 2007, and then completely re-recorded in 2023. The CD-R contains 11 tracks, with over 57 minutes of playing time and a really excellent sound. The music here is a faithful reflection of what The Crypt was all about in 2007. And at that time they were inspired by all things dark, black and atmospheric, so musically you can expect quite an interesting mix, so to speak. For example, there are references to Dissection's third and last album, "Reinkaos", but also to Morbid Angel's early material, and I could go on... Their repertoire is mainly focused on ancient forms of death, thrash, black, doom, heavy and dark metal, but there are also instrumental, meditative moments, such as in the song "Dim at Noon", dedicated to Cliff Burton. Quite a variety of genres, you might say. Indeed, but with The Crypt, I think we're used to not expecting the same musical formula for their next material, because experimentation is everything for them, and it seems to have been the case even in 2007. Personally, I'm glad that this stuff is metal-oriented and has that old-school feel to it. The core of the band on this "blast from the past" album is Nate Yuggoth (bass & vocals), Adam Haste (lead guitar) and Aliaksandr Kubyshkin (lead guitar). And as always, they had a lot of guest musicians to help them with the final arrangements. The lyrics of "Victory Through Chaos" are dark and misanthropic, and completely lacking in subtlety. The 8-page black and white booklet features all of them, along with a great cover art by Doomesia. In short, they've got everything you need for a trip to the old-school metal realms, so if you're interested, check out their bandcamp page!!!