Review Summary: Time to head bang.
Dark Sermon are a down tempo blackened deathcore band that has a large dose of classic metal infused into its sound. Their name makes them sound like they could have at least conceptually been a contemporary of Black Sabbath and that is ever so vaguely channeled in their tone. The name is fitting. The music sure is dark; pitch black dark. And as they channel classic metal mixed with modernism they seem to be enacting it like a ritual; knowing they are doing what others have done for generations and now becoming a part of it themselves with respect and reverence for the heavy metal dance. I just had the fortune of seeing the band live and it was exactly what you could hope for at a local show. It was hilarious as the lead vocalist yell “bang your head with me” and then manually moved the head of a guy who wasn't banging in the front row. They set up a makeshift alter type thing with bones and candles on a tiny stage and played their simple but engaging music. Like a dragged out gimmick becoming a legit strength. They played with absolute conviction. And that is one of the best words I can think of to describe this album.
Tempos range from mid-fast to doom level slow. There is no fancy hyper syncopation that is found in many other deathcore acts or even their debut. Instead it is straight head banging with surprisingly good repetitive riffs. When you realize just how long they are going to ride a groove, then lower the dynamics just to kick into a similar and identical part again, it sure doesn't sound good on paper. Instead, it ends up being hard not to be pulled in. Highlight
The Eyeless Needle is full of hooks and some of the grooviest riffs on the album. It's the song they opened with live. The vox are inspired and their phrasing is one of the best parts of the album. Sometimes he goes into a catchy anthemic section like the end of
Ode to the Black Widow,
Rat King, and
The Wraith. These anthemic sections along with some great riffs are the album's most memorable moments You can hear some emotion and humanity to the scream. The lyrics have various thought provoking themes like existence and transcendence.
A weaknesses is that long ambient drone sections happen a little too frequently. They go a long ways to creating the “sermon” like feel and they do enough to keep these parts sounding from sounding overly similar to each other (throwing in subtle clean choir vox, strings, or atmospheric noise), but they just are too long and happen too much. They can make the songs sometimes feel like isolated riff sections rather than a full well orchestrated song.
Both in Equal Parts is basically a glorified five second loop for five minutes. Also missed is the more energetic material and guitar leads from their debut. The whole album has two short guitar leads and nothing that can really be classified as a melodic guitar part. This new atmospheric sludge suits them and makes them have much more of a unique identity, but its excessive nature reaches into drudgery. Ironically the band has breathed life into their career by being more unique and that new unique direction sounds more lifeless. If the band can harness the strengths of both albums and put them together we would have something incredible.
As it stands
The Oracle sees a band on the rise with a focused and just downright cool effort. If you like modern no frills blackened down tempo groove deathcore that is empowered by classic metal stylings this is for you.
