Last year was definitely a great year for metal. Probably the best year for metal in the past like ten or fifteen years. So great in fact, that I’m still trying to catch up with albums I didn’t get to either listen to or review. I actually had to make a spreadsheet for tracking purposes, imagine that, hahaha!
Anyway, I never even heard as much as a peep about Alluvial until I noticed in my news feed that they released a single, “40 Stories”, and announced their sophomore record, Sarcoma. I wasn’t particularly enthralled with the tunes, but they sounded solid enough to warrant a mental note to check them out later.
I only managed to listen to Sarcoma properly a couple of months or so ago, as the listening queue is huge. I wasn’t particularly impressed, or anything, but I my interest was still piqued enough to jot it down for a review.
I started giving it some detailed listens in the past few weeks and I have to say, it’s definitely made its way to the top of the metal records of last year in my book. Although I don’t hold it in a very high regard on its own, it’s nevertheless a very solid record that’s worth your attention if you’re into death metal executed without nonsense.
I was kind of surprised to see it land in the progressive death metal area of things. Nothing about it at a glance would indicate this, especially the short, bite sized dimensions of the songs. Although, as you dig properly into it, it’s kind of obvious why it warrants falling in that stylistic end of things.
There are some repeating phrases like choruses and riffs and such, but not so much as to drive the entire action into a redundant kind of metal. It’s a pretty high-octane record that simply doesn’t fuck around with the listeners. It goes at it hard and pulls no punches whatsoever. I like that.
Interestingly enough, as more and more repeat listens went through, “40 Stories” really grew on me as one of my favorite moments on Sarcoma. It really has a thick vibe going for it along with the epic vocal delivery.
The thing that kind of irked me is the production on the record. It feels kind of sterile and compressed a little more than it should be. It feels like there’s a too much space between each instrument layer, as if they’re structural gaps that weaken the integrity of the songs.
The mix also feels a little trebly, although not enough to cut in a painful way, but enough to make it somewhat distracting. Sure, that pinch of extra treble really gives the riffs that metallic edge and nasty attack, but it could’ve been toned down otherwise.
If you’re looking for an extraordinary prog death album, maybe look elsewhere, but if you want a good, fun, solid, and engaging ride – look no further than Sarcoma. It has you covered and you’ll surely get some nice kicks out of it.
