The Black Map #231: Sobriquet from Sheffield!

Going from Southampton to Sheffield in one Incredible Hulk sized death defying, gravity ignoring leap is what The Black Map is all about, a feature that spreads the word like a gossip hungry wench about the great and the good of the United Kingdom Underground Metal scene. The south coast allowed us a moment to speak of Deference but now it is the turn of the steel city and Sobriquet…

…who are one of a growing number of Post Hardcore acts to infuse Black Metal into their sound with a darkness and meloncholia building from the black depths to overwhelm the unsuspecting. Conceived in 2016 with mutual influences in late 90’s Hardcore and cult film the quintet have carved out a trio of records in six years together in 2017’s “Akeldama“, 2020’s “A Hundred Thousand Tongues” and 2022’s “Apotheosis“. The most recent of those being recorded with Lewis Johns at The Ranch (Gutlocker, Employed To Serve, Bailer). That runs on a theme of metamorphosis, from doubt and frustration through newfound passion to the journey of enlightenment as the reason for living reveals itself. Don’t be discouraged by how complex that sounds because in reality it’s a record that it is easy to get lost in. After all, they scrapped an entire EPs worth of material they were unhappy with after writing huge single “Death of the Author“, instead deciding to base something new on the sound of that one cut, something which has had stunning results.