Vibromancy

Sacerdos is one of those bands which without the support of a label, since when it was formed in 2007, they try alone to promote their music, something that I respect. This band comes from the U.S.A., it consists of two members and has released three demos, one EP and two full length albums. “Vibromancy” is their second album, which contains twelve compositions of about one hour of duration. Their sound combines elements from various genres of Metal, as Thrash, Doom, some epic parts, with the dominant element to be a mixture of melodic/melancholic with Scandinavian Black Metal. Apart from the Metal influences, the ambient elements play an important role, mainly in the atmosphere of the album.

The main characteristic of the album is the alternation between the feelings and the atmosphere, something that Sacerdos do quite well. The riffs have variety both concerning the style and the feeling, they are interesting but in some tracks the structure and the long in duration passages can tire the listener. The guitars are clean and played with much passion and feeling, while the bass doesn’t have complex lines but it fills the music satisfactorily. The use of the keyboards is discretionary but substantial as they make the atmosphere more intense along with the ambient elements they create a feeling of psychedelia which adds something special to the music. The vocals are harsh, “studio” Black Metal vocals, they are not anything notable. What usually happens with the bands that don’t have a real drummer is that the drum machine is frustrating. Unfortunately this happens also in here too. On one hand, the sound is dummy and empty and on the other hand the programming is bad with mistakes.

The production is clean and bassy, it puts out a full and warm sound, something weird for Black Metal band, but it fits to the compositions and it is a quite interesting approach. The mix is moderate because while the guitars, the bass and the keyboards sound balanced and massive, the drum machine isn’t connected with the rest of the instruments, as also the vocals sound lower so is some parts they are lost. The lyrics are written in English and by the titles of the tracks I understand that they have to be quite interesting but I don’t know anything more as they are not contained in the cd.

“Vibromancy” is one of those albums which leave to the listener a bittersweet taste. It is one of those albums that although they have several interesting moments to offer to the listener and they present some fresh ideas, unfortunately some important mistakes injure the effort. Personally, when I got used to the bad drum machine, I enjoyed the album. I think that Sacerdos offer the album free of charge, so you can listen to it and create your own opinion.