ALBUM REVIEW: Lamenting Of The Innocent – Sorcerer

There are not many bands with a history of two halves quite like Stockholm’s own SORCERER. The band formed in 1988, released a couple of demos and then disbanded just four years later. As a result it is completely understandable that not many people knew the name when the band reformed in 2010 and released In The Shadow Of The Inverted Across five years later to critical acclaim. The momentum wouldn’t stop there either because when the boys dropped The Crowning Of a the Fire King two years later the band were really on a roll and firing on all cylinders. Now, in 2020 the band are taking on the daunting task of attempting to complete the doom epic triumvirate with the release of Lamenting Of The Innocent.

The first real taste of new music on the album is the crushingly heavy The Hammer Of Witches which has an infectious, upbeat guitar riff laid down by Kristian Niemann and Peter Hallgren with one of the finest guitar tones you are likely to hear this year. The driving drum beats from Richard Evensand and accompanying bass line from Justin Biggs is all important in keeping everything grounded, especially as Anders Engber’s Dio-esque vocal delivery threatens to take the band into an almost power metal sound. The harsher vocals are used as a group chant during the song and show that the band are not adverse to using different techniques to tick more boxes and ensure that their stylistic reach is as great as possible.

The pace is taken way down and the goth is dialled way up for the title track. This song wouldn’t be out of place on a PARADISE LOST album and shows just how well SORCERER can shapeshift from track to track in order to keep things feeling fresh. However, it goes without saying that this is where they excel with the beautifully solemn croon of Engber complimenting the deep, tar thick guitars superbly. The guttural growls in the middle section sound demonic and remind the listener just how devastatingly heavy the band can be before switching the track on its head and throwing in an anthemic section that is simply sublime.

Where Spirits Die is another track where the band show off their talent for penning songs with an astronomical sense of grandeur. The triumphant lead guitar run in the opening soars over the top of the dramatic sounding chord progression, the tone that the guitarists have harnessed for the entirety of this release is a real highlight and it is perfectly displayed here. The vocal delivery from Engber is absolute top shelf stuff and sounds as shows just how versatile he can truly be, this performance has a hint of the classic DREAM THEATER style about it and that can never be a bad thing.

The back end of this album is not for the casual listener, with all of the songs boasting at least seven and half minutes in run time each. All of which are filled to the brim with the usual hallmarks that make SORCERER so beloved by their fans. The vocals continue to be brilliant, the guitar work is emotive, well constructed and technically proficient and the rhythm section remains as tight as ever. However, the variation is a little lacking, this normally wouldn’t be too much of an issue but when you consider the heavyweight runtime that Lamenting Of The Innocent clocks up it cam be a little much for one sitting.

This is a decent outing for one of the most unique comebacks in metal today, it keeps up to the standard of the previous two releases since SORCERER returned to the scene. The band have proved that they have more than enough in their locker to hang with the big boys if the scene, but it would be nice to see them break things up a little bit in the future to save things getting stale.

Rating: 7/10

Lamenting Of The Innocent is out now via Metal Blade Records.

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