Sarastus - Agony Eternal LP

100 translucent splatter / black vinyl

Since their formation in 2014, SARASTUS swiftly made their presence known in the still-reigning Finnish black metal scene. With a demo the next year and their debut album a year after that, SARASTUS offered up paradigmatic Finnish black metal, full of freezing fire and a tangible physicality, racing and melodic but nevertheless with atmosphere. Three years later, Enter the Necropolis cemented that position with aplomb and personality, as erstwhile Sarkrista / Order of Nosferat mainman Revenant assumed the mic. With EP that same year and a split with fellow Finns Goats of Doom the year after, it seemed SARASTUS would continue that considerable momentum, but alas, silence would ensue... In the interim, multi-instrumentalist Dusk relinquished his drums to the prolific Anzillu (Order of Nosferat, Curse Upon a Prayer, Iku-Turso et. al.), and Revenant handed the mic to WRANG mainman Galgenvot. With this bolstered lineup arrives SARASTUS' long-awaited third album, Agony Eternal. Immediately, that characteristic freezing fire is felt - passionate and urgent in equal measure, unchained and unbound - but SARASTUS' songwriting has been further sharpened to an enviable degree. No matter the tempo (and indeed do they show plenty of variety here), anthemic hooks are at the forefront, melodies spiral with nightsky fervor, and the rhythmic thrust underneath pulses forward with power and precision. In another band's hands, most of these nine anthems would almost be "too catchy," but as is often the way for millennial Finnish black metal, SARASTUS shape them into deadly infectious treatises on suffering, isolation, strife, decay, and the occult: a harsh and unforgiving exploration of such, no matter how memorable the form. As a morbid memorial of sorts, "Where Cruelty Never Ends" features guest vocals from the late Trevor Strnad of the Black Dahlia Murder. Cold atmospheres plus unfiltered aggression equals Agony Eternal - the essence of nihilism in its rawest form - and SARASTUS are the heralds of the new dark dawn!