Sarcasm is about to drop its latest bombshell.
Since reforming in 2015, nothing has been able to stop the band led by Heval Bozarslan (vocals, Alkemia, Deathswarm, Third Storm, Gold Spire)! Now joined by Peter Laitinen (guitar, Alkemia, Imperial Domain), Jesper Ojala (drums, Third Storm, ex-Morbid Illusion), and Philip Borg (bass, Alkemia, Imperial Domain), the band is releasing its sixth album, Lifeforce Omnibound, via Hammerheart Records.
The sound ignites from Essence of Existence’s very first seconds, a ferocious opening track that pulls out all the stops, blending blast beats, devastating riffs, and furious screams at breakneck speed, immediately plunging us into this whirlwind of violence. The band allows itself a slower, more melodic passage, but it’s clearly speed they’re banking on here, just as on Altering the Perception, which follows suit and develops highly effective Old School roots between Black and Death at varying tempos, creating an interesting, jerky flow. The finale is slightly more heady, leading into the catchy The Reward of Adversity, which weaves haunting riffs while letting the drums run wild to create an intoxicating contrast, even during the very soft breaks before revving up the machine again. The melancholic final leads us to Crumbling Mind Edifice, which opens with a fairly slow tempo, allowing the musicians to showcase their mastery before charging forward again with a jagged rhythm section; however, the track quickly transitions into Plunged into a Paradox, which offers a mysterious introduction before unleashing its thick riffs. This track also blends a driving march with slower passages, perfectly balancing both styles for greater diversity, then Wayward Fragments of Infinite Divisibility strikes with a surprising touch of complexity before returning to biting tones, particularly in the leads that flow seamlessly within this majestic atmosphere. The unsettling final ultimately leads to the melodious and somber introduction of A Concept Older than Time, a composition that takes its time to establish its own atmosphere, captivating us with keyboards and various harmonics before letting the sample from Empirical Life Metaphysical tarnish the sound one last time before exploding and letting us revel in its intensity at a brisk pace under a veritable rain of blast beats that leaves us almost no respite until the very end.
While his previous albums were already excellent, Sarcasm seems to keep getting better and better, delivering a stunning performance on Lifeforce Omnibound, both in terms of its intensity and its captivating atmosphere.
95/100
