Sarcophagum - The Grand Arc of Madness

Angry Metal Guy

Side projects are a staple in all genres of music, and metal is no exception. Some projects are used to explore new ideas that would be out of place in a musician’s main outfit (Spectral Voice), with others to express themselves in a more individualized setting (Corpsegrinder). But what if members of a band decided they could do the same thing as their old and current outfit, but better? Enter Sarcophagum. Created by current and past members of Golgothan Remains, this Sydney Australia studio project wasted no time crafting a debut EP in 2022 and released a stand-alone single just last year. Now, they stand poised to deliver their first full-length, The Grand Arc of Madness. Does this side project deserve to leave the shadow of its predecessors?

Sarcophagum play a brand of treble-heavy death metal which focuses on overwhelming the listener with hypnotic heft rather than brute force. While the previously reviewed Golgothan Remains outings channel a brand of Ulcerate by way of caveman intensity and bludgeoning, Sarcophagum distinguish themselves by toning down the raw attack into something more akin to the engorged tonal clusters of Suffering Hour. Throw in just a hint of Gorguts skronk for ugly atmosphere, and you have a sound that teeters from the enchanting to the repugnant. This slightly cleaner presentation allows the band to alternate between straightforward tension-laced chug fests in “Ritual Pillars Burn” to atmospheric, sustained progressions in “Vermiform.” Across four songs and 34 minutes, The Grand Arc of Madness attempts to concoct a menacing atmosphere where moments of stark beauty are set apart by the discomfort of jarring time signature shifts and melodies collapsing into clashing, overlapping heaps of noise.

The Grand Arc of Madness by Sarcophagum

The man who makes this all work is the drummer and star of the album, Robin. His drumming style is Sarcophagum’s secret sauce, using a mastery of cymbal-only fills, well-timed double bass drills, and the ability to pull back or fill the empty space. This couples nicely with axe-men Matt and Adam’s use of repetition and looping riffs, allowing a constant yin and yang of sound. “Feudal Futures” exemplifies this formula, with Robin going berserk over his kit when the guitars are at their emptiest, and switching to the most basic of beats when the melodies cut loose. With prolonged tremolos ebbing into self-titled era Krallice melodies one minute and collapsing into piercing, distortion-laced feedback the next, The Grand Arc of Madness is an album of perpetual contrast.

The only two blemishes on The Grand Arc of Madness go hand in hand with one another: too much repetition and too much cleanliness. Closing title track “The Grand Arc of Madness” clocks in at a gargantuan 15 minutes, with no less than three separate spots which sound like great endings, only to have the band launch into yet another needlessly extended groove. All four songs suffer from this crutch, with haunting, enjoyable riffs that continue to carousel the listener around while Robin does his best to keep things interesting and fresh. This wouldn’t be so bad, except that Sarcophagum chose to polish away the dirt and grit of their grimier EP in favor of a production so clean that it lays the droning nature of the longer passages bare. Acts like Paysage D’hiver and Ulcerate have shown that repetition can make for a powerful atmosphere, but the tones must serve to help that atmosphere, rather than expose the bare bones of the songwriting. In the end, the album limps rather than strides to a finish, with no amount of drum heroics able to distract from the overly saccharine tones and deja-vu nature of the riffs as a whole.

I can’t recommend Sarcophagum as superior to its entity of origin, but there is certainly promise here. When The Grand Arc of Madness is firing on all cylinders, it’s a treat to listen to, making disso-death as approachable as it can be without losing the genre’s sense of tension and fright. Tightening up the songwriting and bringing back some of the muck of their earlier releases will go far in helping them hone a sound that stands apart from their mother band. Still, if you’re already counting down the years until the follow-up to Cutting the Throat of God, you would do well to give this a spin and keep an eye out for growth from a promising studio act.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: nuclearwinterrecords.com/shop
Websites: sarcophagum.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/sarcophagumband
Releases Worldwide: December 6th, 2024

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