Review by Vladimir on November 22, 2023.

Alright folks, for the second time ever, I will be once again covering a compilation release by a Chilean death/thrash/black metal band Corpsehammer (relocated to Sweden later), and the topic of this review will be their compilation album Sign of the Corpsehammer, released on September 11th, 2019 via Unpure Records, which contains tracks from their first three EP’s (Sacrilegio, Posesión, Perversión).

The musical output that you’ll hear is a combination of second wave black metal with elements of thrash and death metal, with frequent tremolo and thrash riffing, blast beat drumming, aggressive shouting vocals, including some occasional d-beat/punk sections. It’s a very big mix of everything oldschool in terms of its extreme metal roots, and for the most part it seems that it isn’t quite a strange musical brew since it keeps the flow rather smooth and stable. The only thing that seems quite deviating from the majority is the vocals, which as I mentioned before, are aggressively shouting all the way through, with only some brief instances where it switches to some vocal harshness. Although I do not mind this kind of vocals, I personally felt that they just did not flow with me here quite right, because they felt a bit off and not entirely fitting for the general musical output. The sections where the vocal style switches to harsh shouting and gutturals are in my opinion much more suitable for what Corpsehammer is going with, but even if the vocals were perhaps oriented towards something that resembles Tom G. Warrior, I think that it would have worked much better, especially since there are moments in songs that remind of Celtic Frost and Hellhammer. Regardless of how I feel about the vocals, again that’s just my personal opinion and I am not saying that they are genuinely bad, just not quite fitting. Overall, it does not ruin the general instrumental work. The songwriting is fairly simple and straightforward from start to finish with a consistent stylistic approach to both the riffing and the general song structure. Even though the songs do not really manage to strike me like a bolt of lightning, the punkier sections, as well as the Hellhammer and Celtic Frost moments, do however seem to get my mood going. The output is not bad by any means, but at times it feels a bit too familiar or perhaps too generic at times, where you just let it go and not really pay much attention to what is going on. Production-wise, I’d say that it’s quite solid with a not so thin sound, with still some adequate amount of rawness to the guitar tone.

Although it’s nothing spectacular or ground-breaking, it is far from a complete waste of time and it is still worth giving a listen if you’re interested in South American extreme metal. Corpsehammer definitely has a pure aggression and energy flowing through their music and not some excessive need to sound as “true” as possible or present themselves as if they’re a “death to posers” tryhard kind of band. If you ever come across this band and you’d like to give it a try, I’d say go for it, because there is something that you might like despite its small issues that I have addressed.

Rating: 7.2 out of 10

Review by Jerome on May 17, 2020.

The black metal scene has gone through many transformations in the last decades and has managed to stay relevant in modern days. While new subgenres emerged from the necessity of isolating some bands from the «trve» black metal community, it nevertheless showed that black metal could be interwoven and be adapted to different styles of music. This became ever more prevalent in the early 2010s when shoegaze and post-rock became a major source of inspiration for many black metal bands. The genre kept its very introspective nature but rather than exploring negative emotions, the genre opened itself to beauty, melancholy, and hope. Sorrow Plague, a one-man UK band led by David Lovejoy, could certainly be described as a post-black metal band evolving within this framework. His second album, Homecoming, is nothing short of beautiful and is the best representation of what an uplifting and atmospheric black metal album should look like.

To start off, the album is clearly founded in black metal as both the vocals and the guitar work exhibit characteristics that are specific to the genre. In fact, the vocals have the harshness and raspiness attributed to black metal, but also display qualities that are innate to the shoegaze subgenre where the vocals are mixed with a great amount of reverberation giving the impression the vocals are far off in the background. In these regards, vocals are considered not so much as an instrument but more so as a force amplifier, making heavy section feel heavier and atmospheric section feel more energetic. Another consequence of this vocal mixing is the emphasis on the instrumentation and atmosphere.

Tremolo picking is prevalent in the guitar works which is another indication of the black metal foundations of this record. The orchestration of the album makes it, so the tremolo picking is always followed by background chords which creates this feeling of grandiosity and beauty. However, what truly sets the guitar work apart is David’s ability to compose clean and uplifting guitar solos and riffs through an otherwise dense atmosphere. While the solos are less of a centerstage in Homecoming as they were in Sorrow Plagues’ first full length album, they still have the same resounding impact. A great example would be the first song 'Departure' that starts off with a beautiful solo and sets the stage for the rest of the song.

While it is easy to identify and describe the first song, it’s much harder to do so with the other tracks as the record naturally ebbs and flows into its different sections. The atmosphere and feelings of beauty and awe are consistent throughout the record without being repetitive, making the album very immersive. Most of the songs are composed with a clear post-rock influence with an emphasis on build ups and crescendos.

The standout song of the album is the last track, 'Homecoming', which manages to sneak in a saxophone solo in the middle part. This bold and innovative move goes to show just how much David has mastered the atmosphere and how he can easily adapt his sound to different instruments. The song builds up to its last crescendo which must be the most beautiful of the whole record.

Homecoming is a long journey from start to finish where the buildup are tense and the crescendo release such beauty and awe, almost as if you would finish climbing a mountain and be looking at the horizon. The exhausting and most importantly the satisfying feeling the album provides its listener once going through the whole record is what distinguishes Sorrow Plagues from any other atmospheric black metal project. There is something deeply entrancing and spiritual about this album and for that reason, I would recommend this album to everyone and anyone.

Rating: 9.8 out of 10