Infernal Hordes of the Ancient Times

The origin of «The Sarcophagus» is Turkey and therefore from a small metal scene. Only few bands receive larger attention in the Western media, but perhaps this is unjustified as there might be some gems hidden in the scene and only wait to be discovered. Alas, this one from Ankara would not one of those.

Keyboards play an important role in the music of this Turkish band and their play wakes some memories on the art of early releases by the Italian band Stormlord. Yet they appear on a smaller scale and have less impact on the songs, as their part is rather to support the songs instead of dominating (drowning) them. They have their own place in the compositions and are in some respect able to add some atmosphere now and then.

The aforementioned resemblance also found their way into play of the drums as they tend to stick to a faster and rather to a double bass oriented style.

The main point of criticism can be put this way: not original. At least ten years ago, this music might have fascinated fans of (symphonic) black metal fans, but today this release sounds simply odd and too generic. The songs are closely oriented on the music from the second wave of black metal; especially Stormlord has been a major influence for «The Sarcophagus». Not only is this fact revealed by the way the keyboards are used but it can also be found in arrangements of the songs. Some striking similarity will be revealed to those familiar with arts from both bands. Even though the music is not bad in particular, it has no outstanding characteristic which would make it stand aside from other release and therefore can this piece of art only be recommended to those who want to support bands from a small scene, are fond of easily listening black metal and need to have their dosage of keyboards woven into the compositions in order to enjoy music from this particular genre.