Ghost Cult Keefy caught up with Anders Engberg of Sorcerer to discuss their new album “Reign Of The Reaper” out now via Metal Blade Records! Anders discussed the band shedding their Doom Metal past, embracing their modern Trad Metal present, and much more!
Nearly ten years into their career return, Swedish metallers Sorcerer have proven to be a somewhat underappreciated but certainly formidable presence. Perhaps it is down to their sound which sits on the boundaries of traditional and Doom Metal which has hardly been flavour of the month in recent years. It is a timeless and reliable sound however which has seen them with some strong and sturdy releases since their 2015 return. Therefore, things were hardly likely to dramatically shift with a new album; but if Reign Of The Reaper (Metal Blade Records) does anything, it further cements their status.
Swedish doomsters Sorcerer has an interesting story. Formed in Stockholm in the late 80s, they’d already broken up by the time a compilation of their demos was released in 1995. And that was it. No more demos, no proper début albums. Cue twenty years of silence suddenly punctured by 2015’s In the Shadow of the Inverted Cross (Metal Blade); a massive record that was one of my favourite Doom records that year.Continue reading
Sub-genre labels are always more fluid than some people would have you believe, but alongside Industrial and Goth (whatever the hell they are), Doom is probably the most easily abused – depending on the context, it can mean anything from “catchy skater-rock with fuzzy guitars and big choruses” to “eleven hours of excruciating feedback and despair”. Revived for the first time since Johnny Hagel left them to join Tiamat in 1992, Sorcerer take Doom all the way back to its roots in Candlemass and Solitude Aeternus – huge, epic, fantasy-themed True Heavy Metal built on monumental riffs and soaring vocals.
Which is not to say that In The Shadow Of The Inverted Cross (Metal Blade) is just empty nostalgia or “retro” posturing. A strong production that combines “modern” clarity with just enough grime to keep it sounding interesting highlights the strengths of what is, at its core, a strong set of catchy, engaging Heavy Metal songs. As you’d expect, the principal ingredient here is The Riff – grandiose, pompous and majestic – but Anders Engberg’s chest-bursting vocals ensure that the choruses will be stuck in your mind for days afterwards. There’s a groove to those riffs, too, but not the rambling beardy swing of “stoner” Doom – this is defiantly Metal, and those grooves stamp and crush without the slightest sense of irony or restraint.
There’s a tendency amongst reviewers (especially those of us raised on the golden age of Nick Terry’s reign at Terrorizer) to feel that we have to apologise for praising an album that isn’t in some way “different” or “special” – that giving high marks to something which is simply an excellent collection of songs within a clearly defined Heavy Metal sub-genre requires a justification – but I’m not going to play that game this time. In The Shadow Of The Inverted Cross is a fantastic Doom-laden Heavy Metal album, and should be recommended unreservedly for anyone with a love for that style.
8.5/10
RICHIE HR
Swedish epic doom metallers Sorcerer is streaming “The Gates Of Hell,” off their new album In The Shadow Of The Inverted Cross, out March 24, 2015 via Metal Blade Records here.
Sorcerer was formed in Stockholm, Sweden in 1988 but disbanded after two demos in 1992. Both demos are considered true Doom Metal classics and have been released on CD in 1995. In 2010 the band came back together to play the Hammer of Doom Festival in Germany and a year later the Up The Hammers Festival in Athens, Greece. Both shows were received extremely well and the thoughts of putting together a new album started to take form. In the end it took over two years to write, arrange and record it but the result is nothing but pure, heavy epic doom metal. The process of putting all bits and pieces together and making it ready for mix and mastering was the work of drummer Robert Iversen, also a very fine recording engineer, who was acting as the spider in the recording web. The album was mastered by Jens Bogren (Opeth, Amon Amarth, Devin Townsend).
Track Listing:
1. The Dark Tower of the Sorcerer
2. Sumerian Script
3. Lake of the Lost Souls
4. Excorcise the Demon
5. In the Shadow of the Inverted Cross
6. Prayers for a King
7. The Gates of Hell
8. Pagans Dance
SORCERER is:
Anders Engberg – vocals
Kristian Niemann – guitars
Peter Hallgren – guitars
Johnny Hagel – bass
Robert Iversen – drums
Sorcerer on Facebook
Swedish epic doom metallers Sorcerer is streaming “Sumerian Script,” off their new album In The Shadow Of The Inverted Cross, out March 24, 2015 via Metal Blade Records, here.
Sorcerer was formed in Stockholm, Sweden in 1988 but disbanded after two demos in 1992. Both demos are considered true Doom Metal classics and have been released on CD in 1995. In 2010 the band came back together to play the Hammer of Doom festival in Germany and a year later the Up The Hammers festival in Athens, Greece. Both shows were received extremely well and the thoughts of putting together a new album started to take form. In the end it took over two years to write, arrange and record it but the result is nothing but pure, heavy epic doom metal. The process of putting all bits and pieces together and making it ready for mix and mastering was the work of drummer Robert Iversen, also a very fine recording engineer, who was acting as the spider in the recording web. The album was mastered by Jens Bogren (Opeth, Amon Amarth, Devin Townsend).
Track Listing:
1. The Dark Tower of the Sorcerer
2. Sumerian Script
3. Lake of the Lost Souls
4. Excorcise the Demon
5. In the Shadow of the Inverted Cross
6. Prayers for a King
7. The Gates of Hell
8. Pagans Dance
SORCERER is:
Anders Engberg – vocals
Kristian Niemann – guitars
Peter Hallgren – guitars
Johnny Hagel – bass
Robert Iversen – drums