Sarcoptes – Prayers to Oblivion (Review)

Sarcoptes are a US black metal band and this is their second album.

It has been a long time since 2016’s Songs and Dances of Death, but the second Sarcoptes album is finally here. And what do we have? Something pretty damn tasty. Prayers to Oblivion is the sound of Sarcoptes taking their material to the next level in every regard; songwriting, recording, and performances, have all improved.

This is a mix of black and thrash metal that’s coloured with symphonic atmospheric elements. Such a simple description, while essentially accurate, doesn’t really do the material here justice though. The tag symphonic blackened thrash doesn’t sound too appealing to be honest, yet the reality is that Prayers to Oblivion is very, very appealing indeed.

There are five tracks on this album. Three are epic in length, each lasting 13-14 minutes, while the remaining two are only four-five minutes long and break up the larger songs. Totalling 51 minutes, Prayers to Oblivion is a feast of riffs, teeth, snarls, and old-school atmospherics.

The songs are well-written and structured, demonstrating the band’s skill at composing blackened thrash that tells a story well and takes the listener on a journey. Fast and atmospheric like classic black metal, yet strongly packed with spiked thrash riffs and thrash metal’s sense of narrative structuring, these songs are intricate and layered affairs.

The screaming solos and blazing leads grab the attention like fiery comets, while the underpinning riffs and rhythms just go to 100% most of the time. The majestic icing on the grim cake has to be the symphonic keyboard elements though. These are just so tastefully applied and so authentically second wave that they crown the aggressive music perfectly. Yes, Sarcoptes really know what they’re doing with their music. To top it all off, the album has a very satisfying production that makes the most of the music.

Prayers to Oblivion has impressed greatly. It’s a hideously enjoyable monster of mood and riffery, and is absolutely something you need in your life if you’re in any way partial to the thrash-fuelled black metal arts.

Essential listening.