Review Summary: Sounds of isolation and a gut-wrenching vocal performance make Sorg a worthy addition to any BM collection.
Afsky is a one-man black metal project from Denmark that has currently released two full length albums and one EP. Sorg is the first full length released from the project and it embodies a diverse sound of crushing despair and reverberant guitar swells. There is a nice mix of classic, cold BM tremolo picking with a shimmering layer of shoegaze guitar chords dispersed overtop. The drums are standard fair for the genre and the bass is almost non existent. Not to say that this takes anything away from the impact of this album, as the true highlight is the gut-wrenching and truly desperate vocal performance.
As I write this, we are living in a time of isolation. Maybe that is too much of a conclusion to draw, but the recent years have certainly not been kind to many. While it may be easier in human nature to default to giving up and depression, Sorg offers an interesting listen while in this state of mind. As the snow falls on a world of virus and hate, sometimes the darkest forms of music can be the most comforting.
There is no doubt a dark, depressive nature to the music... what a surprise! But there is also a strange sense of hopefulness in some of the guitar passages here. Tasteful use of reverberated and phalanger-tinged guitars meld into the dark backdrop of blackness to form a strange sense of acceptance. Death becomes us all, so how do we embrace and accept that?
To avoid being insufferable with my attempts at philosophy in the current state of things, Afksy's Sorg is a great BM album. Touches of ambiance reminiscent of Paysage d"Hiver can be found while melancholy guitar strums layer the cold ground with ice. There is even a bit of acoustic guitar passages that enter beautifully and seamlessly.
I am happy to have found this record, and only hope that you will give it a listen yourself and see what you can take from it. I certainly look forward to what this project pushes forward next. I find one-man bands fascinating, especially in the genre of BM. Afsky displays an attention to detail and focus through the straight forward yet precise drum performance that molds the entire record together and it is certainly impressive.
