Sovereign - Nailing Shut the Sacrosanct Orifice
Broken Limbs Recordings
Thrash/Black Metal
9 songs (45'45'')
Release year: 2015
Broken Limbs Recordings
Reviewed by Jared
Surprise of the month

Sovereign is a black metal band from the United States that have unfortunately gone under my radar until recently. Nailing Shut the Sacrosanct Orifice, originally released digitally, is out on limited cassettes for 2015 by Broken Limbs Recordings. Sovereign bring a mean, vicious, and violent album that delivers crushing results.

Gnosis is a short minute long introduction that sets in a dim atmosphere. The following track, Orbiting Lunar Curse, explodes with great fury with mighty blasting from the drums. Double bass takes over, and melancholic guitar chords ease the intensity. The album balances these moments well, and at times, melds heavy breakdowns perfectly.

Tracks can be fearless and menacing. Heaping Praise upon a Cataract Sun emits a powerful Behemoth sounding introduction before it rips forth into a hellish ride. The album does experience a slowdown later on with Sulfur’s Cross. It begins with mournful sounding guitars until it jumps into a more medium tempo with a great melodic feel once the ball gets rolling. The song has a creepy nature to it, but following afterwards, the album delves into a bleak desolate tone with the atmospheric and instrumental track Profane Glow. It provides a nice break from the chaos, but also still makes sure to provide some unsettling sounds before continuing.

Part Thy Flesh, Call His Name is a three minute monster that rarely wants to leave room for breathing. Its quick delivery of satanic riffing will easily leave a bitter yet sweet taste. The violent atmosphere stays up to par to the very end; however the final lengthy track, Nailing Shut the Sacrosanct Orifice is the much more melodic of the bunch. The fierce intensity is definitely still present, but the final track really has this album end with a big bang.

Sovereign delivers black metal with a great melodic and thrash feel to the mix. They have ignited a ferocious flame that I think will be very difficult to fan out. This release shows that they are definitely a violent and brutal force to be reckoned with. Black metal fans of groups like Dissection should definitely give this band a shot.

Killing Songs :
Orbiting Lunar Curse, Heaping Praise upon a Cataract Sun, Sulfur’s Cross, Nailing Shut the Sacrosanct Orifice
Jared quoted 80 / 100
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