Sarke - Allsighr (2021)

Allsighr is the first Sarke album where I detect a hint of color to the cover choice. Maybe it's just my imagination that there's a bit of blue painted in there with the blacks and grays and whites, maybe even a little brown, but it makes a little bit of aesthetic since as the band seems to have become so confident and proficient in its sound that it's almost like they are emerging from some larval stage. I don't think one is as expansive to their sound as Gastwerso, but its clearly one of their best-rounded, memorable efforts that takes all which has come before as a toolset to write some entirely kickass material which, for me, almost rivals Viige Urgh.

Yes, the whole enchilada of the Norwegians' sonic package is brought to bear upon their fanbase, and anyone else who has the pleasure of encountering their incredibly underrated catalog of music. The first clip of "Bleak Reflections" will have you thinking they've embraced their more traditional black metal roots, but that is merely a ruse, as they will soon dial it back into the mix of minimalistic thrash aesthetics, black & roll stylings, a little progressive rock in the use of several of the synths and song structures, and that doom vibe which has never taken over their style completely but deserves mention in the conversation. The tunes here are very well composed, balanced, always possessive of the band's unique mystique ("Funeral Fire", "Through the Thorns"), and never shying away from trying a riffing pattern they haven't hit upon before. Cato Bekkevold (ex-Enslaved) does the drums here and they sound as crisp and professional as any of his forebears.

Allsighr is pretty amazing. The production is clean and effective, every note hitting exactly where it needs to on your aural palate, and every instrument and vocal mixed with lethal clarity. The album thrives in both its harsher, grooving moments and the calms, of which there are a number in the intros/segues as well as the ambient/piano piece "Sleep in Fear". It's extremely accessible, which is another reason I'm shocked that this band never got much huger than they did. Perhaps it's just not 'extreme' enough if we're talking about the black metal genre as a whole. It's not going to spin heads off necks, it isn't blasting at a million miles an hour, the vocals are cutting but never overbearing, the symphonic ingredients are a minor embellishment and not a Wagnerian tour de force. But this is SONGCRAFT, by experts, who catch vibes from the aether and ride them to dark, pleasurable heights.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10] (Obsessed with what's below)

https://sarkeband.bandcamp.com/