(written by Islander)
Given the current state of the world and “the music business” in particular, it frequently astounds us that young people continue starting up new bands and pouring their energies into creating songs and playing shows. Didn’t anyone tell them the odds of survival are near hopeless?
Well, no one told the Gothenburg death metal band Sacreligious, or they ignored such miserable advice — and death metal addicts who partake of their debut album Brutality Incarnated will be happy they did. We are certainly very happy to premiere the album’s diabolically exhilarating first single “Vile“.
As you can see, Sacreligious aren’t grizzled veterans, but since forming up in 2024 they’ve been making good use of a lot of good inspirations — the likes of Swe-death luminaries Entombed and Dismember and the modern brutality of bands like Sanguisugabogg. In addition to writing original songs, we’re told that they’ve also put themselves out there playing venues, skateparks, and festivals across Gothenburg and beyond.
Sacreligious have given us this comment about the song we’re premiering: “‘Vile‘ is a straight-forward, energetic and dynamic track, that is a perfect first taste for the album. Its speedy guitars and heavy sound is a perfect gateway into Sacreligious.”
Those speedy guitars quickly generate a filthy and viciously mauling churn, and after delivering a few head-butting blows the drums take off in a bracing gallop. As the bass heavily undulates down below, the churning riffage dismally slithers as well as generating a maddened pulse with a corrosive tone. The vocals prove to be equally vicious, venting rabid howls and gang expulsions in which monstrous roars join in.
Sacreligious repeatedly vary the swarming riffage, creating differing manifestations of madness and mayhem, and the drums also prove to be dynamic. But things get brutal too as the band inflict rhythmically compulsive hard-slugging punishment, and the song also spills out episodes of grim oppressiveness. Those jarring, jackhammering grooves also set the stage for a swarming, buzzing solo that pierces the mind, and for riffing that sounds both queasy and hallucinatory.
At the end, frantically darting guitars with a flashing tone pave the way to a final bout of convulsive violence and ecstatic fretwork whirls with an unearthly aura.
Produced in a way that delivers traumatic power and savage separation, the song is electrifying, head-hooking, muscle-moving, and meaner than a starving demon horde that have just found defenseless prey. What fun this is!
SACRELIGIOUS:
Felix Dahllöf – Vocals
William Alvarsson – Guitar
Hugo Rahm – Guitar
Nellie Taghizade – Bass
Filip Staberg – Drums
Brutality Incarnated was recorded, mixed, and mastered at the legendary Studio Fredman in Gothenburg, while the vividly hellish cover artwork was created by James Campbell.
The album will be released independently on September 25, the same day the band play a major show in Stockholm, marking one of their biggest milestones to date.
For more info about Sacreligious, their new album, and to pre-order, check the links below:
PRE-ORDER:
https://sacreligious.bandcamp.com/album/brutality-incarnated
SACRELIGIOUS ONLINE:
https://www.facebook.com/sacreligiousband
https://www.instagram.com/sacreligious_band
https://sacreligious.bandcamp.com