11th August 2019

Review: “Wine, Song And Sacrifice” EP by Sanguinary Trance

The Austrian Black Metal from Sanguinary Trance is the work of a single unnamed multi instrumentalist although S. Spulak handled session drums, Lanz of Amestigon, Der Blutharsch and the infinite church of the leading hand added a guest solo and additional lead guitars and Kark of Dødsengel fame did the Mastering.

Starting off your three track EP with a nearly 13 minute epic in the form of its title track is a very bold statement to make. It’s a full 2 minutes and 37 seconds of epic introduction build up before a gutteral roar and blast beats come crashing down like a tsunami and things take a huge break neck speed climb. There is a sense of controlled chaos in parts with a who can play faster while keeping the sweeping melody of the Black Metal guitars together. Imagine if you will the Lord of the Rings character Gollum, drunkenly aggresively beating his head with an empty Whiskey bottle, soaked in blood and sweat while screaming for his precious. That’s what the vocals sound like. The music grows in energy, gradually building up it’s frenetic schizophrenia while maintaining an almost orchestral feel to it with distinct moments. There is a false ending at 7 minutes 17 seconds and an Arabian Nights esq solo before everything kicks back in. It’s a harrowingly driven and bloody affair that is an insight into the mind of the maddening. Taking the speed, energy and ferociousness up a couple of notches “Carvings” is a relentless pursuit of blast beats and Black Metal guitar riffage that echos the sentiment of the opening track with more intensity. The constant rise of fall of the chord progressions gives a highly sinister atmospheric that accompanies the raw vocals. The mid song Jazz moment when adds a break and some breathing space but also acts as a moment that you might want to hear more of. A slowly growing in pace concentric circle of a riff underpins “The Dionysos Whip” and provides a punishing sense of tension and dark mood in what is an instrumental closing song that is very much the opposite of where it started out. The sense of melody underneath the music is gone. This final tune takes things to a relentless white noise level of Black Metal which takes multiple listens to even begin to understand! [7/10]

Track listing