“Arise, Sort Out, Overcome” is the motto of this Austrian metalcore band. It sounds rather clichéd, not to mention similar to the booming announcement you hear every day on Britain’s railways: “See it, Say it, Sorted”. To their credit, this band has released an album and an EP, and have accompanied some big bands live around Europe.
It’s clear to see why Sortout would appeal to a live audience. Their music is hard, heavy, fast, melodic and riff-driven. It’s fresh and mobile too. I really liked the energy and intensity. Basically this is Austrian Soilwork. Even the clean sections make an appearance and are integrated into the songs without disturbing the balance. “Relentless” takes over from the punchy opener “Underflow”. The vocalist sounds angry. The twisty guitar work has personality. I suppose the hardcore underscore goes with this, but it seemed to be a matter of statutory obligation rather than enhancement. With the exception of “Paragon of Misery”, every song is in the three to four minute bracket, and so follows a certain pattern. There’s a lot to get through in the four minutes, and I could never accuse Sortout of selling the listener short on content. While of a very recognisable origin, there’s loads to enjoy here. Gaps between songs are minimal so there’s no time to take breath. This is a breath of fresh air. The tempo changes, the atmosphere darkens, the thing cranks up … it’s exciting. The songs are similar but packed with energy, and in the case of “Eternal Hate”, drama. It’s one pulsating explosion after another. I came to the conclusion that trying to capture the details of these songs would be pointless as it’s about being swept along this massive wave of energy. Here and there there’ll be a break or a flamboyant guitar section but unlike some bands, there’s no one element which dominates and distorts the others. The clean vocal accompaniment reminds me a lot of Persefone’s Miguel in the way that it is superimposed on some of the songs as a means of summarising the state of the world. I found that in general I was too wrapped in these whirlwind songs to take much notice of the lyrical themes of hypocrisy, dissatisfaction and disillusionment but I got the gist. By contrast, “This is not what I want” is the insistent lyric within ”Midas’ Gift”. Sinister tones and the sound of thunder signal in “Paragon of Misery”, a powerful, angst driven melodic metal piece. The album reaches an interesting end with the more complex “A Journey from Within”, but again the band have got it right by retaining the heavy melodic element and leaving us to wonder what they might do next time out. For now, this will do very nicely.
“Conquer from Within” is a complete breath of fresh air. None of the ingredients are new and it’s easy to pick out similarities with Soilwork, Persefone, In Flames, compatriots The Sorrow and others, but Sortout manage to pack their own melodic modern metal into a massive ball of energy and excitement. Sorted.
(8.5/10 Andrew Doherty)
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