Sarcator – Swarming Angels & Flies

Written by on 23-02-2025 at 20:30.

As I try to apply my parenting skills daily to infect my children with the metal virus, I must unfortunately admit that as of now it remains a matter of brave attempts. In that regard, father Tervonen (The Crown) has his things better in order, as his son Mateo fully dedicates himself to his own band, Sarcator.

This pack of hungry young dogs fears nothing and no one, and here they are presenting their third album. This Swarming Angels & Flies is released via Century Media, proving once again that talent combined with hard work pays off. And it is clear that the band has talent. Esteemed colleague Cor thought so too, as you can read in his review of previous album Alkahest. A key remark in this review was that the band could use a bit more identity to claim the status of a supergroup. Well, that is something we are about to discover.

The new album contains eight tracks and lasts about 45 minutes. Sarcator fundamentally plays aggressive thrash metal with a lot of energy which can be a challenge to keep your attention. However, the band does everything to keep things interesting by incorporating many influences from other music styles. As the band itself states, they want to be genre-fluid and not be locked into a fixed genre. Besides hrash you will hear heavy, death, and black metal, but also, at regular intervals, punk, hardcore, and even blues-like sections. Just listen to the beautiful instrumental Closure and Where the Void Begins. For a healthy dose of hardcore, you can turn to the furious Comet of End Times. This may be the hardest track on the album, while there is still plenty of room to introduce heavy metal-like guitar riffs and solos. It definitely showcases the versatility of these musicians.

Aside from this versatility, I have to add that the level of instrumental mastery on display is incredibly high. Considering you can still call this a young band, it is admirable that it feels as if a very experienced group is playing. Sarcator has every reason to be proud of Swarming Angels & Flies. It is an extremely entertaining album that helps the band to continue building a successful career. However, I do get the feeling that, due to their specific drive to not fit solely into the thrash metal box, the whole comes across as slightly incoherent. I’m not sure if everyone will feel the same way, because it’s not that obvious. And don’t let this stop you from listening to the album, forming your own opinion, and simply adding it to your collection!

Score:

81/100

Label:

Century Media Records, 2025

Tracklisting:

  1. Burning Choir
  2. Comet of End Times
  3. Swarming Angels & Flies
  4. The Deep Ends
  5. Where the Void Begins
  6. The Undercurrent
  7. Closure
  8. Unto Sepulchres

Line-up:

  • Mateo Tervonen – Vocals, guitars
  • Felix Lindkvist – Bass
  • Leo Buchalle – Guitars
  • Jesper Rosén – Drums

Links: