The ciiiiiiircle of Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiife – to paraphrase and bastardise Reg Dwight. Well in reality it is the circle of death – Death Metal more specifically. The internet is awash with new Old School Death Metal bands, teens and twenty summats who have picked up an HM-2 pedal on Ebay and a copy of Clandestine and headed to a studio.

Styles come and go and for every generation it will be the first time that they have had the hairs on the back of the neck stand up and the hair atop their head whip frantically, as they hear Left Hand Path or Skin Her Alive for the first time.  Recently signed to Prosthetic records for their second release in as many years, Xorsist hail from the same city as Entombed and Dismember and very much follow the template of those two fine bands.

I had a quick google of the band’s debut, last year’s Deadly Possession and some reviewers felt that there was a whiff of the emperor’s new clothes about them. Whilst it can definitely be said that they are not furrowing a new filthy ditch I feel there is enough contained within to pique the interest of metalheads young and old.

Melancholy piano track “A Life in Vain” hints that it is going to drop into something filthy and gnarly, but this musical McGuffin fades gently before a drum roll thrusts the distortion of “Carve it Out “through my 3 decades old speakers.  Adding to the Entombed vibes is a filthy dose of, well early Cradle of Filth intonation on the vocals. I don’t mean that Gustav Ryderfelt is performing a Dani impersonation, rather the phrasing and intonation takes my ears back to those early Hadleigh Horror jams.

Unfortunately for a young band that hark back to the past as much as Xorsist do it is inevitable that much will be made of their obvious influences. Yes, this album is a giant jagged slab of nostalgia that will take some of us back to our mis-spent youth and give younger folks further rose tinting for their backwards bi-focals but from now I will judge it through a 2023 lens.

At the Somber Steps to Serenity is great fun. It is dirty, distorted and desperate, piling on riff on riff, bombastic bassline on top of thunderous drums and then interjecting sweet acoustic passages to offer some light relief.  There is nothing new here. Not a single thing – but then when you eat your favourite dish recreated by a new chef or partner are you looking for innovative tangents? Do you want Heston Blumental bollocks like Salter ocelots livers in your spag bo or do you just want some hearty fare to give you the fuel to go out and face this shitty heartless world?

Yeah you know it.

Xorsist are your Nana’s recipe for rockin’ extreme metal to annoy your neighbours and put pep in your step.  The opening rumbling riff of “Carve It Out” rolled straight off the Swedish production line like a reliable Volvo. It immediately makes you want to shake your fists and your head with vigour and its staccato rhythm plucked at the blackened parts of my musical soul too.  It doesn’t let up either. I remained engaged throughout the albums ten tracks. The punky production brings a great urgency to the band’s sound and gives the album a rugged outlaw feel which is missing from a lot of sterile modern DM in my opinion.

“Blessed by the Divine” starts with a dirty crusty hardcore bassline then bursts into venomous Scandi deathmetal, it’s tempo changes cut out the groove it hints at but this is more than made up for by “Imitation” that follows. Is this an ironic title as this is pure Death n Roll with only the vocals setting it aside from LG and co. It’s bloody infectious though. The bassline cuts like barbed wire and “Coterie of the Depraved “ continues in the same vein.

“Banished to Obscurity” is ushered in by a dark and eerie intro complete with whispers. Very late 80’s thrash before launching into a dirty blackened death track with a catchy as covid (which I have as I type) hook. I am tasting Darkthrone and Carpathian Forest in the mix now but that bass is so fucking crusty you can taste the cider and sweat drenched crotch patches.  Utter filth – bad dog on your bed!

“Distorted Shapes” is a must mosh classic with some big old slam sections in it and a breakdown that begs for crowdkilling – so da Kids will love it whilst “Grace” is breakneck death with guitar licks flying up and down the neck like Bernard Mathews choking everyone’s chicken. (Go VEGAN!) Another somber acoustic interlude later and things come to an end with the title track.  It’s an 8 and half minute epic that blends classic heavy metal galloping riffs, black metal iciness and some frankly delightful warm acoustic sections.  Bits of Enslaved, Immortal, Bathory and Maiden are in evidence here and show a different texture to Xorsist but still with a backbone of dirt and crust.

I have found myself listening to this album over and over again in recent weeks which shows that Xorsist are doing something right and are not merely riding the coattails of those from thirty years ago. Definitely worth checking out if you like your extremity with a groovy punky edge.

(7.5/10 Matt Mason)

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100068956572446

https://xorsist.bandcamp.com/album/at-the-somber-steps-to-serenity