SORROW - Death Of Sorrow
August 16, 2023, a year ago
(Xtreem Music)
Love the album name, love the name of the first song, “Doom The World”, and love Sorrow's whole deal, the New York death/doom underdogs here coming back after a hundred-year hiatus for a second album, after 1991's Forgotten Sunrise EP and the following year's Hatred And Disgust full-length.
They broke up in '93 after Roadrunner dropped them, but not before writing an album's worth of songs, which they're finally recording and releasing. I deeply love that story, and love the “guys dropping off their kids at school” band photo, and love how it contrasts with how heavy these tunes are.
“Doom The World” starts very strong, the band coming out a bit more regal and stately than I remember them being, vocals frustratingly loud in the mix, but the riffs and drum work more than making up for that misstep. Love it when the band picks things up to a hyper-polka speed on “Judicial Falsity”, although their strength is when they go slow and miserable, where that song inevitably ends up.
The sideways Trouble riffing in “Scar” rules, as does the weird quirky climax of “Required Irrationality”; unfortunately, the album definitely slogs on for quite a while, and the last couple tracks get a bit tiring (although outro weirdo freakout “Funeral March” is legit unnerving, which is great), but this is a minor—and fairly expected—setback on what is, by all accounts, a triumphant return for Sorrow.
