Sicarius - God of Dead Roots (2020)

Hailing from the USA today we have Sicarius, a Black Metal battalion unleashing their sophomore full-length release “God of Dead Roots”. With a very violent and furious sound, this band feels like a less chaotic (but equally effective) version of Anaal Nathrakh but with a more melodic edge. If you like pummeling and unhinged BM, this is certainly a release to check out.

The album quickly goes at the listener’s throat with the ravaging opener “BIA”. This track unleashes an intense brutal onslaught that we were not expecting. Blistering drums, courtesy of Brandon Zackey, perfectly frame the band’s aural assaults with crafty tempo changes and demonic blast beats, as we can hear on “Open Fire”, “Immortal Plight”, and pretty much every other track in this release.

Changing things up a bit, the sinister “Culling the Heedless” and “Nekromanteia” both feature a darker tone and crafty guitar leads to keep the listener at bay. The album’s crystal clear production allows tracks like “A Practiced Hand” and the album title track to showcase all the little details the band has carved into the drum patterns and the crushing twin guitar onslaught.

As a whole, “God of Dead Roots” is quite a brutal release that showcases why the band has already played shows with bands like 1349, Vader and Uada. If this release a sign of more to come from this outfit, be sure to keep an eye and ear out for these guys. Recommended for fans of bands like Anaal Nathrakh, Shade Empire and similar outfits.

Label: M-Theory Audio

Release: February 28th, 2020

Genre: Black Metal

Country: USA