Review by Chris Pratl on December 17, 2018.

I'll go on record saying I think one of the better Swedish death metal albums back in “my day” was Sorcery's debut full-length, Bloodchilling Tales way, way back in 1991. It was absolutely rife with that “textbook” Swedish sound made famous by Grave, Unleashed and Desultory, to name a sparse few. While severely unpolished, it remains one I grab when I'm feeling that need for cold, unmitigated death metal. 

That said, it's been, oh, two decades-plus since we've seen a full-length from these Swedish boys bent on bringing death to the lulled masses. Arrival at Six takes no easy way in and literally smashes into your ears with “We Who Walk Among the Dead”, a classic Swedish sounding foray into the horror that was that beautiful sound. Infinitely more polished with modern devices and tools, the primitive and thin sound of old is thicker and bolder, lending total credence to the notion that 20-years between albums hasn't dulled the senses of these guys. That sickening guitar tone, part and parcel with the era and region, is ever-present and as potent today as it was during that brutal period. 

A band like Sorcery, one might opine, is riding the recent resurgence of that antiquated sound, and one might be correct. However, bear in mind that these guys once held rank in that esteemed club, and the time between hasn't exactly seen total dormancy. With a couple of demos and a compilation Sorcery has picked up where it left off and found a home once more in the dank and dismal recesses of death metal greatness. 

The vocals are that familiar gruff bellowing, and it truly wouldn't resound well any other way. Ola Malmstrom sounds even more volatile and angry on tracks like “Master of the Chains” or “Warbringer” as he did on “Legacy of Blood” or “Death” back in the day. There is something so drawing about this sound, especially when done by masters of the genre like Dismember or early Entombed. Sorcery, however, claims its own spot in the pantheon of putrid perfection with Arrival at Six; this album, for all of its polish and tweaking, stands among the best of the modern day genre because, quite honestly, it's brutally effective at charging the blood in a mad rush through the body when hearing it. There isn't one weak track on here, and, surprisingly, not one track meshes into another with typical affinity towards repetitiveness. The signature sound remains throughout, but the tone of each song is different and equally heavy. “United Satanic Alliance” is just Swedish brilliance all over, reading like a post-Cronos Venom on a speedball diet. This familiarity is most welcome, particularly when it comes from one of the bands from the early movement that spread over Europe like a wonderful cancer, infecting and destroying healthy cells and decimating lives along the way. For once, such a metaphoric illusion works well.

I was ecstatic to hear that Sorcery was releasing the long-awaited second record; even with slight reservations and even fears in mind, I held out hope that the Swedes would know exactly what not to do when reclaiming a spot in the coveted history of that country's brilliant death metal underground. I was not only happily surprised, but doubly impressed and made subservient to a sound that I find most agreeable today with my old-world preferences. 

This is a must-hear for '13 so far.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

(Originally written for www.metalpsalter.com)

Review by Brexaul on December 19, 2020.

Gimmick bands have been on the rise and while this is not something new, it is slowly becoming an awful trend since most bands spend more time trying to find their quirk instead of composing and refining their sound. Ecclesia (Greek for church) from France, might seem like a typical gimmick band, especially if you take a look at the band members' pseudonyms and their overall clinging to the dark ages of the inquisition but shit-oh-shit this album rocks.

I'll start with the fantastic album cover and the huge weird logo covering most of it. Ecclesia are very on point with their personas and the general aesthetic they want to embrace and every little detail works towards that goal, admirably if I may add. Borrowing heavily from the heavy metal pages of Cathedral, Tad Morose and Candlemass ("Chapter VI" era) they have created a great mixture of doom metal flourished with heavy and power metal elements. The very smart use of the church organ as a primary protagonist, gives an eerie gothic atmosphere to the whole album that sets the grim tone to this epic tale of repentance. Their very talented vocalist Frater Arnhwald sounds great and fits perfectly to what the band is trying to convey, with a multifaced performance ranging from power metal-lish falsettos to flat out death metal growls, always with absolute control and a strong sense of placement.

The guitars are ripping and the songwriting is varied, galloping riffs give their place to slower passages and leads are melodic and haunting. The overall sound is very modern, avoiding the pitfall of an overproduced digital mix, as the band sounds very tight but not robotically precise or devoid of emotion. That haunted backdrop is ever-present and the whole album sounds very coherent both lyrically and musically. I also really enjoyed the small touch of renaming the Venom classic "Don't Burn The Witch" to 'Burn the Witch' just so it fits their narrative. The only thing that prevents me from giving the album an even higher score is that I feel that the first half is slightly, yet distinguishably stronger than the second half and that seems weird for an album that lasts 43 minutes. But this doesn't mean that the second half is bad, far from it, songs like 'Deus Vult' could be highlighted in some other tracklists.

Ecclesia offers a not-so-new, but very welcome approach to the doom metal formula, one that might appeal more to the average power metal fan. I spent the whole year juggling my favourite doom metal album between Sorcerer and Stygian Oath, but the French inquisitors (what a paradox) came in at the last minute, all torches blazing and now I have to re-do my lists. Overall a very enjoyable album and a very promising start to what I hope won't shift to the gimmicky side of the spectrum.

Standout tracks: 'Vatican III', 'Montségur'

Rating: 8.9 out of 10