Death metallers Sarcophagy, originating from Lafayette, Indiana, haven't released anything for over a decade. They are still active, though, but only two guys from the line-up of this debut album remain. Anyway, how does 'The Summoning' sound like these days?

Sarcophagy's heavy and nefarious death metal isn't aged badly at all. Bulldozing rhythms, hefty guitars, pounding bass guitar and monstrous growl generate a beast that is unstoppable and always sanguinary. "Insane controlled chaos", as it reads on the cover. Indeed. Take some Suffocation, Gorgams and Diabolic, and that's where Sarcophagy dwell on this album. 'Intro' is a part from the movie "Law Abiding Citizen"; a torture scene's beginning, with stuff that makes one think of inhuman suffering to come. Perfect start for a brutal album, in my opinion. By the way, it is the sole sample on here.

The pace fluctuates a lot. It can get from fast tempos to sluggish in a flash. Yet it can have double kicks banging; that's the way I love it! There is so many different beats and rolls heard, that I lost the could after a few hundred. The guitars are crushing and thick as mortar; the riffs are ugly, vicious, ominous and evil; just what aforementioned bands also have done. There's some cannibal Corpse moments, too, when vibrating riffage happens. The vocals are beary growling all the way through, with some a tad more high-pitched backing voice (from two guys), and the words are maybe just intelligible; there's varying phrasing to fit the different tempos. The lyrics are mostly sickening portrayals of torturing and killing, and the vibes of the music match with them.

This also carries some surprising moments. There can be a sudden otherworldly non-distorted melodic part, which comes out of nowhere; while not similar, but in a vein of Pestilence's 'Testimony of the Ancients' (1991) album, bringing in tons of intrigue and breathing spaces. Add some well crafted soloing (that James Murphy's thing on the closer is simply great), and songwriting is absolutely sterling. They can be beautiful in a strange, eerie way, but certainly aren't candy. The production is fantastic: Every element is easy to hear and balancing is perfect. Echoing toms and snare drum are banging, and heavy kick drums do not obstruct round bass guitar tone.

I hope Sarcophagy are working on new album. These fellas could have something great up their sleeves. The future will tell, if anything will come from their camp. I really do not have a bad word to say about this album, except for the cover artwork which could be more detailed. But about the music: None. Get maimed while in awe!

Rating: 8 (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
07/04/2023 19:59