Single Slam – Exiled by Sorxe (The Ark Burner)

Experimental sludge metallers, Sorxe, have released a new single called Exiled from their incoming album, The Ark Burner.

The Ark Burner is due to drop on the 11th of October via Prosthetic Records. It will be the Arizona based band’s 3rd full length and follows 2017’s Matter and Void. Sorxe are Shane Ocell on drums, Jonathon Portnoy on the bass and Tanner Crace on vocals, guitars and keyboards.

Exiled starts with a dreamlike sound using slow and haunting melody with gentle tapped drums. The sound grows with additional guitar lines joining in, followed by a deep rumbling bass and finally echoing vocals. The shoe gaze sound continues to evolve layer by layer as you listen until it switches to a full on fuzzy riff that gets the neck muscles working. The sound is very full with prominent riffing and a deep drum sound. The vocals drip in sludge, sitting back a bit in the mix that is definitely riff driven. There is a nice repetitive rhythm to the verses that worms it’s way into your brain before the chorus hits you with a higher tone and a bit of added melody.

The vocals change up quite a bit over the song which is nice. From the echoing start to the really strong harsh vocals of the verse and chorus and then to a deep spoken style after the first chorus which sounds brilliant. The spoken section lead us to a brilliant instrumental section, well with a couple shouted lines. The guitars are banging and the bass oozes all over you. The solo that follows brings back the high melody and puts you back into that dreamy state. The perfect foil for the switch back to the heavy riff to see us through to the end.

Speaking about the track, frontman Tanner Crace says, “honestly it has been a while and I cant even recall exactly how this track came about? Its almost like it was just implanted into our psyche by an instant Matrix-esq upload. That being said, it’s a tune that starts off slow and haunting where we are trying some new things out. This is the sound of SORXE evolving as a band, experimenting and getting comfortable in our collective skins. Not much more thought was put into this one other than to just let things flow in a natural way.  A nice example of a song that pretty much writes itself with a few minor alterations for added flavour. Bon Apetit.”

Exiled is a really exciting song that adds a few additional touches to the typical sludge/doom sound. The dreamy melodies and vocals at the start offer a bit of shoe/black gaze but more importantly help to enhance the riffs that follow. The vocals are great. I especially like the almost gothic spoken style. I really enjoyed this track. It shows a band with skill and ideas who aren’t afraid to expand their sound. All the better for us.

You can grab a copy of Exiled from all the usual streaming platforms now. Preorder The Ark Burner from here.

Links

Bandcamp – Facebook – Twitter – Instagram – Prosthetic Records