UMUR
"Garden of Bones" is the 3rd full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act Sorcery. The album was released through Xtreem Music in May 2016. It´s the successor to "Arrival at Six" from 2013 and the second full-length studio album released since Sorcery reunited in 2009 after their initial split-up in 1997. Sorcery only managed to release one full-length studio album in "Bloodchilling Tales (1991)" in their original run, but they are widely regarded as an influential act on the early Swedish death metal scene. They released no less than three demos and one EP in the years between 1987 and 1990.
Stylistically "Garden of Bones" continues down the same old school Swedish death metal path as the material on "Arrival at Six (2013)". It´s early 90s influenced death metal with the occasional thrash and doom metal moment thrown in for variation, which is almost as unsurprising as it gets. The material on the 10 track, 51:09 minutes long album is as traditional as comes when dealing with old school Swedish death metal. That´s great in some respects, but overall "Garden of Bones" is a slightly generic listen, and Sorcery don´t really have a sound, which sets them apart from the more prolific contemporary artists and their tracks seldom stick after they have finished playing.
That doesn´t mean "Garden of Bones" isn´t a decent quality release, because it certainly is. It´s both well played, well produced, and relatively well written, it just lacks a personal sound and a few more memorable hooks. I´m still well entertained all the way through the album though and therefore a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is deserved.