Sweden’s Sarcator are one of metal’s most exciting young bands, I personally first became aware of them after discovering their demo online in early 2020, since then they have gone on to release their debut self-titled album in October of 2020 and on November 4th 2022 their follow up effort, Alkahest releases via Black Lion Records.
So what makes Sarcator so exciting? Well, for one thing, they are playing fresh blackened thrash with old-school Scandinavian death metal overtones, the second is the band’s age, and this is the talking point for the vast majority of the press that covers them. Being aged between 17 and 23 this young band is a ray of hope for modern metal. Sounding like veterans three times their age, the future can only hold good things in terms of them making killer metal.
This early in their career it speaks volumes that they have already picked up a nomination for “Best Swedish Metal Group 2021” via Swedish radio and are likely to win the award sooner than later as well as others as their profile grows. Sarcator wear their influences on their sleeve and will immediately appeal to fans of old-school Metallica, Sodom and Slayer along with the big names in German thrash as well as melodic death metal like The Crown, Death and At The Gates. The Crown’s influence is a direct link to The Crown’s own Marko Tervonen’s son Mateo Tervonen being on vocal and guitar duties and was only fourteen at the time their demo was released and started to gain attention and traction.
This second full-length record leans a bit further into heavier influences with Dissection and Morbid Angel having been referenced. Don’t be fooled thinking Saractor just sound like all the above, they don’t, they sound better. Their sound is crisp, heavy, technical and loads of fun. Even with track titles like ‘Grave Maggot Future’ and ‘Sorrow’s Verse’ this is a headbanging album that’s a joy to listen to.
A second album is always a tough deal, especially if you’re coming on the back of a successful debut effort which Sarcator are, that being said, it seems effortless for Sarcator to make fantastic metal and Alkahest is proof. It’s a solid record, a ton of fun and heavy as all hell, this is a record for fans of old-school and blackened thrash to rejoice in and should not be slept on, this band are going places.
