Album Review: Sorcerer – Reign of the Reaper (Metal Blade Records)

Since their rebirth in 2010, through a string of amazing live performances, signing to Metal Blade Records and releasing three excellent metal albums, Sorcerer have been firing on all cylinders with no plans of stopping for anyone. On October 27th, 2023, they will release their new album ‘Reign of the Reaper’ via Metal Blade Records.

Talk about a band never putting a foot wrong. Sorcerer have been on fire for pretty much their entire career and have stepped up to an unbelievable level since their return in 2010. ‘In The Shadow Of The Inverted Cross’ in 2015, ‘The Crowning Of The Fire King’ in 2017, and now the long-awaited ‘Reign of the Reaper’.

Sorcerer are back and their epic metal sound is sounding more powerful than ever. In fact, listeners will likely come away with just one complaint, and it’s simply that it’s over all too soon.

It doesn’t get much more epic than the opener, Morning Star. Sorcerer unveiling a cacophony of riffs, rumbling percussion, and soaring vocals that add so much buoyancy to the soul. Yet, it is just one part of an album that is near-perfect throughout, and the smiles are going to get wider once the title track is heard. A track that oozes darkness, doom-infused darkness, but controlled by Sorcerer’s innate ability to make everything sound larger than life.

That’s two tracks, just two tracks and this album is already a contender for the album of the year. Then along comes Thy Kingdom Will Come and Eternal Sleep, and minds will be blown, if they haven’t been already. The former is an incredible combination of sinister heaviness and metal vigour. Whereas the latter shows off a more melodious side to the band, albeit tinged and warped by their emphatic abilities to hit with so much weight. A track that is as inventive as it is enchanting.

Can it possibly get any better? Well, there is the devilish instrumentation and vocal power of Curse of Medusa, a track with one hell of a chorus. Then there is the thrilling combination of gothic mischief and doomy intensity that comes from Unveiling Blasphemy. Before The Underworld sets the mind aflame with blistering guitar riffs, emphatic soloing, and thumping drumbeats.

The word ‘epic’ can easily be overused when talking about this album and Sorcerer overall, but it is a word this album and the band embody. So much so, that it’s still at the forefront of the mind as the album ends with Break of Dawn. Sorcerer are simply untouchable at the moment and Reign of the Reaper is as brilliant as anything they’ve done before.

Sorcerer – Reign of the Reaper Track Listing:

1. Morning Star
2. Reign of the Reaper
3. Thy Kingdom Will Come
4. Eternal Sleep
5. Curse of Medusa
6. Unveiling Blasphemy
7. The Underworld
8. Break of Dawn

Links

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