Review by Michael on March 3, 2024.

I remember when I discovered Skeletal Remains back in 2012 with their debut album Beyond The Flesh and how I recommended it to a friend telling him that if he wanted to have something like Asphyx this band would be pretty cool. Well, now 12 years later there isn't too much left that would justify such a statement. The band has morphed into a very brutal death metal band that lives from the relentless and bonebreaking riffs and drumming and also Chris Monroys' vocals have changed from Martin van Drunen-like to something more abyssic, monstrous and gurgling. Of course this isn't a big surprise if you followed the band and their last releases because they went more brutal with each album but this very uncompromising and highly unmelodic approach is remarkable at least and I didn't expect such a daring step. And no, it isn't just daring, it is also very challenging, I would say. When I gave it a first spin, I sat there afterwards, being pretty much clueless and to some certain point also a little bit disappointed. But giving Fragments Of The Ageless some more listens, I must state that this one is definitely a “grower”.

'Relentless Appetite' is pretty much what was expected by the guys. The song has many twists and turns and a thunderous double-bass line and with the reverbing and sonorous vocals with the double-layered voice this song spreads an atmosphere that Morbid Angel created on the after-D-album-era. Not to forget the pretty sick guitar solo that we can find here. And Morbid Angel plus Hate Eternal are probably the most influential band on that album. The gloomy opening riff in 'To Conquer The Devout' sounds like a “Gateways To Annihilation” copycat and when the vocals set in, this might be taken from some old Hate Eternal albums. So it is quite fitting that the guys did cover them with 'Messiah Of Rage' from their 1997 demo which I unfortunately didn't get with the promo. With 'Unmerciful' Skeletal Remains have a pretty long song on board too and this one is more creeping and mid-tempo paced and threatening because of the monolithic atmosphere. This one is probably the song to which the listener may get access easiest to. Although the track is not really less brutal, the structures are easier to comprehend and there are some more catchy parts than in the other songs. And before the Hate Eternal cover closes the album, the guys decided to show the world how skilled they are on their instruments. 'Evocation (The Rebirth)' is a 5 ½ minutes long instrumental song that somehow appears to be very hypnotic because of its repetitive elements but also a little bit too long and because I never was the fan of instrumental tracks, also pretty unnecessary.

Well, the band has done a very solid job with Fragments Of The Ageless although the one or the other fan might have some issues with the album because of the above mentioned aspects. After listening several times to it now, I must admit that I like the album now, especially when I am pretty pissed off because of something. Oh, and one note about the cover – this time they engaged Juanjo Castellano and Dan Seagrave, what a great mixture when it comes to metal art. While Dan Seagrave put the fiery and sinister atmosphere very detailed and (please forgive me this term in this case) caring on canvas, Juanjo Castellano was responsible for the inlay artwork and I guess both did a fantastic job with that.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Review by Felix on October 4, 2020.

The chaos theory says that smallest changes of the initial conditions can lead to very big impacts on the whole system. It is a fact that the wing-beat of a butterfly is able to cause a hurricane. The Coming of Chaos, released by Sweden’s Sacramentum in 1997, confirms the theory, but unfortunately exactly the other way round. The entire work sounds as if slight changes during the song-writing process could have resulted in a much better full-length.

Sacramentum’s album shares the destiny of a couple of outputs of Lord Belial. On one hand, it does not appeal to the mainstream. On the other hand, it cannot really suppress its weakness for melodies that take a lot of the otherwise attainable vehemence of the material. Admittedly, from time to time the more or less melodic touch of the compositions helps them to develop a powerful yet catchy appearance. 'Portal of Blood' combines the melodic side and the general force of the Scandinavians in an exciting manner. Nevertheless, it happens too often that the band stops fighting when the battle is only half won. Murderous riffs are missing and unforced errors add insult to injury. It’s actually no big deal that 'Abyss of Time' is nothing else but a useless intermezzo. But located on the fifth of nine positions, it significantly hurts the flow of The Coming of Chaos significantly. Moreover, the title track with a playtime of more than 13 minutes is rather a waste of time than a regular song. It seems as if the band wants to teach us that the chaos has arrived. Thus, the dudes pressed it into the strangest available tones. Honestly, this sound collage just sucks and generally speaking, there are no chaotic elements in Sacramentum's sound.

The vocals are raw, of course, but they lack charisma and any kind of individuality. In addition, the material is characterised by an almost complete absence of atmospheric elements. I know this is not a pure black metal work. It connects elements of the unholy trinity thrash, death and black metal. Nonetheless, I miss a spooky, infernal, nightly or whatever aura. Sacramentum’s songs appear to me like songs of a rock band that have accidentally become too harsh. There is no outburst of energy, no true devotion to the darkest side of metal and no compositional shrewdness.

Yes, the more or less conventionally designed songs (number 1 to 4 and 6 to 8) do not suffer from major defects, but they also fail to whet the appetite for more. Especially Sweden has so many bands that are able to link the sonic form of Armageddon with the most bizarre, most monumental or most morbid melodies - Dissection, Necrophobic and so on. Sacramentum follows these legends with a considerable gap. Perhaps they did so because they had remarkable clairvoyant powers and intended to avoid the Covid 19 shit already at the end of the 20th century? Who knows? The only thing I know is that Sacramentum published an under-average work in 1997. So now it’s time for my personal interpretation of the chaos theory. It does not need more than “Mirror Black”, Necrophobic’s advance track of their new album, to listen to brilliant music again.

Rating: 5.6 out of 10

Review by Felix on October 4, 2020.

The chaos theory says that smallest changes of the initial conditions can lead to very big impacts on the whole system. It is a fact that the wing-beat of a butterfly is able to cause a hurricane. The Coming of Chaos, released by Sweden’s Sacramentum in 1997, confirms the theory, but unfortunately exactly the other way round. The entire work sounds as if slight changes during the song-writing process could have resulted in a much better full-length.

Sacramentum’s album shares the destiny of a couple of outputs of Lord Belial. On one hand, it does not appeal to the mainstream. On the other hand, it cannot really suppress its weakness for melodies that take a lot of the otherwise attainable vehemence of the material. Admittedly, from time to time the more or less melodic touch of the compositions helps them to develop a powerful yet catchy appearance. 'Portal of Blood' combines the melodic side and the general force of the Scandinavians in an exciting manner. Nevertheless, it happens too often that the band stops fighting when the battle is only half won. Murderous riffs are missing and unforced errors add insult to injury. It’s actually no big deal that 'Abyss of Time' is nothing else but a useless intermezzo. But located on the fifth of nine positions, it significantly hurts the flow of The Coming of Chaos significantly. Moreover, the title track with a playtime of more than 13 minutes is rather a waste of time than a regular song. It seems as if the band wants to teach us that the chaos has arrived. Thus, the dudes pressed it into the strangest available tones. Honestly, this sound collage just sucks and generally speaking, there are no chaotic elements in Sacramentum's sound.

The vocals are raw, of course, but they lack charisma and any kind of individuality. In addition, the material is characterised by an almost complete absence of atmospheric elements. I know this is not a pure black metal work. It connects elements of the unholy trinity thrash, death and black metal. Nonetheless, I miss a spooky, infernal, nightly or whatever aura. Sacramentum’s songs appear to me like songs of a rock band that have accidentally become too harsh. There is no outburst of energy, no true devotion to the darkest side of metal and no compositional shrewdness.

Yes, the more or less conventionally designed songs (number 1 to 4 and 6 to 8) do not suffer from major defects, but they also fail to whet the appetite for more. Especially Sweden has so many bands that are able to link the sonic form of Armageddon with the most bizarre, most monumental or most morbid melodies - Dissection, Necrophobic and so on. Sacramentum follows these legends with a considerable gap. Perhaps they did so because they had remarkable clairvoyant powers and intended to avoid the Covid 19 shit already at the end of the 20th century? Who knows? The only thing I know is that Sacramentum published an under-average work in 1997. So now it’s time for my personal interpretation of the chaos theory. It does not need more than “Mirror Black”, Necrophobic’s advance track of their new album, to listen to brilliant music again.

Rating: 5.6 out of 10