Review: “Sacrament Of The Sick” by Furthest From The Light

Tracked and mixed at Bricktop Recording by Andy Nelson (Foreign Hands, Ether Coven, Wristmeetrazor)  and mastered Audiosiege by Brad Boatright (Obituary, Mindforce, Drug Church), “Sacrament Of The Sick” marks the second record from Chicago based quartet Furthest From The Light. Curiously enough vocalist Thomas Sobczynski, guitarist Ryan Zuidema, bassist Evan Dale and drummer Jack Michener describe their band as writing both Death Metal and Metallic Hardcore, the fire of which is fuelled by their sharing of stages with Death Before Dishonor, Xeons and Plague Years since making their live bow little over a year ago…

…In all fairness, Furthest From The Light cross the great divides of Metallic Hardcore and Death Metal in opening cut “Overcast” alone, vocally Sobczynski shredding the lyric sheet over 165 seconds of rampaging Hardcore riffs that are broken by bursts of blast beats from Michener in what is an incendiary affair that slows in tempo expertly towards the end. Zuidema’s choice of guitar tone is chunky while enough of the bass has been allowed to bleed into the mix to give the riffs a bounce, the groove of Hardcore intertwining with the swagger and edge of Death Metal on these tracks. Then comes “Inhumation” which borrows from the pages of Stone Temple Pilots with a style of backing vocal in the chorus that exposes influence while bringing something a little different to the table without sacrificing their core sound. It feels like a risk but it is one that pays off, while the dirge laden riffs of “Sedation” hit harder than a brick to the face, a mid tempo gravel throated affair that drags the dirt before a Downtempo Deathcore inspired closing which has an arty spoken word that brings to mind the introduction to “Punishment” by Biohazard [7/10]

Track Listing

1. Overcast
2. Inhumation
3. Sedation

“Sacrament Of The Sick” by Furthest From The Light is out now and available over at bandcamp