Review by Felix on January 8, 2023.

Sarkrista are a rather big name in black metal, but due to reasons unknown, they never crossed my way so far. So I thought it is time to check one of their outputs. “Under Sentence of Death” houses two tracks with a running time of twelve minutes - a good appetizer, right?

No, it isn’t. The title track is disappointing. I miss fury, ecstasy and musical quality. The opening guitar lines are vapid, the chorus sounds clumsy or even stupid and lacks expressiveness. Okay, the song is better than its sleepy beginning indicates. A few fast sections are welcome, but they cannot turn the tables. In addition, the track – as well as “As Mountains Disappeared in Fog” – falls victim to the under-average production. The snare suffers from a thin appearance, the guitars do not raise hell and don’t ask for the bass guitar. Of course, it is conspicuous by its absence. Anyway, the mix is not the crucial factor for the weak result here.

Just take the vocals. They convey nothing, no charisma, no madness and not much passion. In a few moments I feel that the lead vocalist puts his heart and soul into his performance, for example at the stormy beginning of the second track. But mostly he sounds like someone who has to do the vocals for a music style he has never heard before. He only knows he has to avoid clean singing and that’s it. Anyway, “As Mountains Disappered in Fog” has some intense parts and sections. They are led by a soft guitar in order to form a fine contrast. Unfortunately, the song derails after four minutes in view of a useless break. The last two minutes offer nothing but lukewarm, pretty powerless lines.

As I said before, Sarkrista are a more or less big player and I am sure they can do it better. Here I miss atmosphere, devastation and sustainable lines and riffs. But everybody deserves a second chance, if I am not mistaken. Thus, “Under Sentence of Death” is not their death sentence from my side, although I will never return to this underwhelming EP.

Rating: 4.4 out of 10