30th April 2020

Review: “Self Titled” EP by Sores

Greek Black Metal duo Sores have a calling card phase “The Cage That You Call Life……..is the One that Feeds Your Depression“. Having released a pair of two track demos in 2017, N.D. (Guitars, Drums) and Sacrilegious (Vocals) were joined by Spectral Lore bassist Ayloss to record this debut EP. It has been long in the works with drums, vocals and guitars recorded in a trio of separate studios and while the instrumental parts were recorded back in February of 2018, it was a year before the vocals could be recorded.

Both of those previous releases were raw, punishing affairs full of seething spitting and symphonic surgery that was unrelentingly. “Eyes Turned Black” sees Sacrilegious screaming into the black abyss of an inter planetary void created by buzz saw guitars and relentless blast beats. The Greek duo give Australia’s Snorlax a run for his money with the writhing screeches of pure bodily pain that grip from start to finish. “Drowned” throws a curve ball of some Stone Sludge Groove riffs and a periodic slow down in the drum skull battery of the kit work but snakes back around to the blast beats and ends on a crescendo of howling at a crescent moon. Taking that raw power and injecting a sense of control with “Wounds Of Absence” which has the same glorious ebb and flow that the likes of Ancestral Kvltv achieve with his work, it proves that they are more than just evil in your face. The track is clearly divided into movements with each one delivering that little bit more demonic possession until a final 26 second jam room flush that you might not have expected. Surpassing 12 minutes with “Lost in The Void of My Creation” sets the expectation of a shroud of Black Metal slow burn atmospheric with a fog gradually lifting from a Norwegian Forest. That’s the first 6 and a half minutes which builds up before smashing the creation down with as it transforms like Bruce Banner into the Hulk into a snarling, screeching, venomous fireball [7/10]

Track listing