SORCERER: Lamenting of the Innocent

SORCERER
Lamenting of the Innocent

METAL BLADE

9/10

EPICUS DOOMICUS RADICUS: It’s good to see that Swedish traditional doom act Sorcerer has been enjoying a career resurgence over the last few years, because these guys are definitely the real deal.

Old heads might remember when the underground label Brainticket released a collection of their first two demos on CD back in 1995, but it would take nearly 20 years of dormancy before Sorcerer would return to compose new material. Thankfully, the band’s songwriting skills didn’t just sit collecting dust, as evidenced by this fantastic new effort for Metal Blade Records.

Lamenting of the Innocent follows up the band’s two prior full-lengths for the label by kicking out mid paced and melodic doom metal jams in the vein of their countrymen Candlemass or Abstrakt Algebra, as well as stateside bands like Solitude Aeturnus. The songs are moody, and always pack a punch, while the crystal clear production ensures that all of Sorcerer’s ideas resonate with proper levels of power. The bass is audible, but not overpowering, the guitars are crunchy, and Anders Engberg’s vocals soar with believably emotional resonance.

Lamenting of the Innocent is at once a nice throwback to Sweden’s progressive doom scene from the 90s and millennium, while also sounding fresh, exciting and relevant to 2020. Nostalgia can be great, but Sorcerer thankfully keeps improving and moving forward with how they’re approaching some very tried and tested waters. A song like “Deliverance,” for example, is a beautiful and slow moving folk ballad, and fits perfectly alongside the headbanging riffs of album opener “The Hammer of Witches.” They’re two sides of the monumentally great coin that is Sorcerer in the modern day—a band with a firm handle on what they want, how to write it, and how to execute it in a manner that’s satisfying as hell. ~ George Pacheco