SARMAT — Determined To Strike (review)

SARMAT — Determined To Strike album cover Album · 2023 · Avant-garde Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4.5/5 ·
UMUR
"Determined To Strike" is the debut full-length studio album by US, New York based death metal/avantgarde metal act Sarmat. The album was released through I, Voidhanger Records in June 2023. Sarmat formed in 2020 and they released the "Dubious Disk" live EP in April 2023.

Stylistically the material on "Determined To Strike" is dissonant and technical death metal, but with an avantgarde twist and some serious journeys into jazz/fusion territory. While Sarmat can certainly be both brutal and quite extreme, their at times chaotic sounding music is ultimately quite sophisticated, not to mention very creative and intriguing. This is not just another dissonant technical death metal act. The jazz/fusion elements are too dominant and they are an integral part of the compositions. Add to that some pretty weird and adventurous guitar riffs, and the whole thing is quite impressive and at times also jaw-dropping. The vocals are also very well performed and the listener is exposed to both deep growling and snarling growling. The inclusion of piano and especially horns is a touch of genius, which Sarmat use as an integral element of their already eclectic music.

The question beckons...can this even be labelled death metal? or is it actually extreme avantgarde jazz/fusion music with technical death metal elements just being a part of the sound? "Determined To Strike" is both a highly challenging but also strangely accessible release. "Accessible is probably a wrong description of what´s going on here, but despite all the craziness and the chaos featured on "Determined To Strike", I personally still find it quite memorable.

Maybe it´s because the band have chosen a production style for their album, which isn´t overtly brutal and pummeling, instead aiming for a more detailed production, although the sound production is ultimately still quite raw. Upon conclusion "Determined To Strike" is definitely one of the more unique sounding extreme metal albums I´ve listened to in a while, and they deserve a lot of attention for being this creative and for pulling it off with what sounds like a natural ease. Honestly I´m a bit at a loss for words here...but I´ll tell you one thing. This is amazing and definitely gets a recommendation from me. A 4.5 star (90%) rating is deserved.
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