Ah, and here we are, with the second album from brilliant death metal rising stars, Sectu. I had the very good fortune to review their debut “Inundate” when it was released, and at that time, I made comments that placed them immediately in the top tier of death metal. They’d seemingly done the impossible and produced an amazing platter that challenged the greats of the genre on their first attempt. Of course, you might pen this down to beginners luck. Can they possibly continue this run of form with “Gerra”? Read on to “gerra” honest review on the album * Chortle *
The happy news is that Sectu have continued and evolved, combining the furious bombast of their first album, with a smattering of more twisted melody and strange, dragging tempos and off-kilter drum work that evokes an atmosphere of dizzying madness. Closer “The All Engorging Furnace”, for example, while having a ferocious, modern death metal take on that classic warped Morbid Angel sound, but with, (and I kid you not), hints of classic Rush at their most progressive. Stick THAT in your pipe of expectations and smoke it. It’s not just that the songs are a varied bunch – though any death metal band that has the gumption and skills to produce such a strange beast as the extremely doom-tinged “Court of the Sloths” needs to have some plaudits – it’s that everything is done here with such aplomb that you would be forgiven for thinking that this is an outfit that has releasing albums for well over a decade. To have this kind of self-assured confidence so early in a career might be viewed as arrogance, but this is a band that really doesn’t care about your expectations, as they are seemingly content to plough their own deathly furrow.
In terms of the production, this is a clear and incisive beast, with a fine line in subtle guitar melodies which manage to stand out among the turmoil of the main, churning riffs and furious rhythm section. The bass sound is punchier than John Prescott at the world egg throwing championships*, while the drums are as ruthlessly tortured and pounded as you would expect from this brand of hyper-kinetic death metal. It’s all very modern, but with the good sense to have influences from the giants of the genre, from when they still used to release good albums. “Gerra” not only continues the fine quality control of their first album, but it also manages to improve on it. Easily the best death metal release of the year so far.
*Held this year in between the picturesque villages of Swaton and Helpringham deep in ruralLincolnshire, fact fans.Prescott not included.
(9/10 Chris Davison)
Leave a Reply