Sacrarium – March to an Inviolable Death (2011)

Finally getting a proper release, today we have Sacrarium’s debut full-length “March to an Inviolable Death”. This album by far is one of the most brutal we have received in a while, but it is also one of the least creative ones.

The band punishes the listener with tremolo-picking sections galore and hellish Dark Funeral style vocals, but nothing else in terms of creativity and originality. The sound is indeed massive and if you are looking for a quick fix of brutality, you will relish this album for eternity.

After the cliché intro track, “Heartless Visions” starts with a huge bang. The guitar is blazing with tremolo-picking sections and the bass guitar pounds away in the background, but the drumming sounds a bit too over done. We believe the band uses a drum machine since there are sections that are far too monotonous and ‘fast’ for the average drumming to be playing.

Most of the album flows the same way: fast as shit riffing, hellish vocals (the main highlight of the album for us) and the massive fake-sounding drumming. This very formulaic approach is sometimes enhanced by the occasional atmospheric section, but nothing else. The experimental droning track “Terribilis Est Locus Iste” gives a nice breather to the listener, but adds nothing to the overall cohesion of the album.

The production on this release is quite clear and highlights the massive guitar work and somewhat obscures the bass guitar track. The drumming sounds way too fake and gets annoying because of the sheer repetition of the drum ‘patterns’. In general, the band might be supper brutal, but they can’t really seem to push forward with progressive thinking and original ideas. Maybe if they get their shit together, find a REAL drummer, and actually write songs, their future releases might be worth checking out.

Release: March 8th, 2011

Country: France