Sarmat - Determined to Strike [I, Voidhanger Records - 2023]Fusing together extreme metal and extreme jazz, NYC's Sarmat see their debut LP, Determined to Strike, released via I, Voidhanger Records. Pounding, chaotic, but extremely well put together, this first full length showcases the band's talents for not only playing such extreme songs, but arranging and producing these fantastically frantic pieces. Featuring guest stars on trumpet, guitar, and sax, Sarmat utilize their line up to create something really unique and worthy of many, many repeated spins. Over its six excellently experimental tracks, Determined to Strike brings death metal into newer and more exciting directions. Bringing in avant-jazz elements to both sound and structure, Sarmat weave together a chaotic, but well defined approach to their death/jazz fusion that will please traditional and experimental metalheads alike. Technical and progressive, Sarmat is able to move between skilled, tech death structures and varied styles of breakdown with aplomb, complete with jarring tempo changes and instrumentation that will challenge one's spatial orientation. The bedrock of Determined to Strike is formed by intense, well played, and well structured technical death metal. Its speed and precision form the perfect basis for the thrilling and intense guitar acrobatics that leap and fly in and around the listener, keeping them on their toes, urging them forward in this onslaught. While fast and engaging, it is also dazzlingly intricate and each chord progression and arpeggio is purposeful and well constructed. To sweeten this metallic pot, Sarmat adds an avant- jazz element through the last half of the album. This mix of extreme metal and extreme jazz adds an intriguing dissonance and even manages to up the chaos factor of the album. Spastic when needed, atonal and droning when necessary, the horns added to Determined to Strike help to elevate an excellent album into an extraordinary one. The way that these instruments are added into the metal structure seamlessly shows that Sarmat truly understands arrangement on far more than just a metal level, and the album and metal fans all benefit from this knowledge.
What is said to be part 1 of a 3 part "conceptual cycle which weaves together music, lyrics and textures," Sarmat's Determined to Strike showcases a band in peak form in both performance and experimentalism. With two further parts on the horizon, metal fans everywhere should be excited for Sarmat's future and the continuing two parts to this cycle. Although their discography is small at the moment, the future of Sarmat looks extremely bright and hopefully we won't have to wait long for their next L    Paul Casey
|
(c) Musique Machine 2001 -2025. Twenty four years of true independence!! Mail Us at questions=at=musiquemachine=dot=com
