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SORROW
Death Of Sorrow

Xtreem Music (2023)
Rating: 8.5/10

This New York band, that formed in 1988 as Cyanic Death, before changing their name to Apparition the same year and then settling on the moniker of Sorrow, were responsible for two overlooked cult death / doom gems. In 1991 they issued their EP Forgotten Sunrise which was followed in 1992 by their full-length debut Hatred And Disgust. Sadly, the combo split shortly after and so their sudden reappearance somewhat surprised me, even more so that the line-up consists of vocalist / bassist Andy Marchione, guitarists Bill Rogan and Brett Clarin, and drummer Mike Hymson, all of whom featured back in 1991. Even so, I was hesitant to dive in headlong to the Sorrow reunion for fear of being nostalgically biased towards the past and not appreciating the future.

So, with some degree of trepidation I skinny-dipped into the opening track ‘Doom The World’ and wasn’t disappointed by the murkiness of the trudging and the throaty vocal slurping. Six of the eight songs on offer here were to feature on the band’s follow up to Hatred And Disgust, so I shouldn’t have had any concerns. These songs, barely tampered with, remain as effective as they would’ve done decades ago. The interesting injections of thrash which seamlessly interject with the sombre segments are the main reason why Sorrow were ahead of the game, a tragedy then that so many missed such joys first time around.

The grand mix of faster passages and bleak death n’ doom succeeds throughout as I’m reminded of such classic doom metal acts like Penance and the far darker Winter alongside vintage Death. ‘Judicial Falsity’ is an absolute bulldozer of a track driven by those immense riffs and the boulder-sized bass lines. Sorrow refuses to remove itself from its tried and tested script, acting as a juggernaut before the wild solos squirm through the heaps of lead weight compost.

‘Remembered Eternally’ rolls with a devastating chunkiness where again there are the melodious flickers of classic mid-tempo Death, the track being built on shuddering bass and percussion teamwork. ‘Scar’ and ‘Required Irrationally’ are as equally effective in their melancholic stance before the monstrous aching gloom of ‘Someone Else’s Blood’ causes major quakes of doom before the sudden thrash turn. The band then revisits the Apparition era with a sturdy reworking of the track ‘Hidden Fear’ before the ‘Funeral March’ outro.

The hair may be shorter and thinning and the dress code less “metal”, but this is a brilliant return from these underrated heavyweights who with one mighty effort demand your attention once again before dragging you into its immortal coils.

Neil Arnold

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