SARTEGOS "O Sangue da Noite"

SARTEGOS

"O Sangue da Noite"

A very intriguing debut here from SARTEGOS, who are out of Spain's Galician area. This is a fairly unique stab at a cross between black and death metal, with plenty of atmosphere and an extremely dark sound. It's hard to come up with a straight comparison to SARTEGOS, which as far as I'm concerned is a huge mark in their favor. I do hear echoes of NECROS CHRISTOS and the heavier ROTTING CHRIST but in no way are they strictly imitating any band.

The style is a mostly mid-paced death metal with odd arrangements and a kind of Mediterranean feel to it. The production is clear and sharp, with the super growly vocals of Rou way up front in the mix. The vocals almost overwhelm the guitars and take some getting used to. SARTEGOS is not afraid to add melodies and use keyboards to enhance the sound. Even the three brief instrumentals here are quite appealing in the style of GOBLIN and NOX ARCANA. Rou definitely spends a lot of time arranging the songs. They have very unpredictable breaks in them, where the song sounds like comes to an end only to start up again with a completely different riff pattern. "Arquiero" and "As Devasas Som  dos Lobos" are two really excellent tunes that are very heavy and yet quite beautiful in a very dark way. The band can pick up the pace and attack with black metal speed and aggression but the riffs here are also different than the norm and can be quite technical.

I don't know if SARTEGOS is a one man outfit or not, but you don't hear bands carving their own path all that much anymore. You'll hear it for sure on "O Sangue da Noite".

BLOOD HARVEST

I VOIDHANGER

SARTEGOS