Sorcerer turns a corner.
After two EPs and a split with Pencey Sloe, the Parisian band comprising Dominique (vocals), Guillaume (guitar), Timothée (guitar), Goulven (bass) and Morgan (drums) sign their first album, Devotion, in collaboration with Frozen Records and Delivrance Records.
Jacob Valentine, Hadrien Besson and Diane Pellotieri (Pencey Sloe) are also credited with additional vocals.
The album opens with Badlands, which begins with a long, gloomy sample before letting the band unfold its metallic riffs over groovy Hardcore patterns and vindictive screams. A few more ethereal harmonics temper the rage, but it’s clear that the rhythm is just waiting to explode and let you put your best two-steps forward, just like on The Eternal Grief, which goes up in flames from its very first moments. The moshparts follow on naturally from the vociferations, but the musicians also allow themselves a slightly softer break before returning to the heaviness leading to Devotion, a jerky eponymous composition that also promises some fine crowd movements while developing a kind of contrasting chaos between calm and raw energy. The final allows us a moment’s hesitation before In the Arms of Mortality reveals a touch of mystery, then stuns us with its suffocating veil, then molests us with its lively riffs, welcoming a much more belligerent appearance before the solo. Fortress follows with a gentle introduction, but soon gives way to the musicians’ usual fury, reflected in heavy palm-mutes but also a few backing vocals and a wilder voice, then the sound slowly disappears before returning to A Kindness, a rather short instrumental that allows us to temporize while keeping the atmosphere quite tense. The end of the track becomes saturated, then The Bell Jar marks the resumption of hostilities, broken by an airy lull, before the band unleashes their fury once more before offering us a moment of anguish on Someone Else’s Skin, a long, two-speed composition: first aggressive, then finally very soaring and heady, bringing the album to a close.
Although I’m not much of a Hardcore fan, I think that Devotion is quite diverse. Sorcerer‘s touch lies in this ability to place very airy elements between two effective moshparts, creating an interesting contrast to explore.
80/100
