adg211288 Gerra is the second studio album by Swedish death metal act Sectu, released almost exactly a year after their 2011 debut Inundate (just a few days over). The three piece band has had a small line-up change between albums, with guitarist Anders Ericson Kragh replacing Angel Dominguez. Anders is perhaps most known for playing with the progressive metal act Beyond Twilight and as such is a welcome addition to the Sectu line-up given the already technical and slightly progressive direction that the band took on Inundate.

Gerra is most definitely a more of the same album for Sectu, although saying that since they had a lot going for them with the excellent Inundate that’s most definitely not a bad thing. The instrumentation, particularly the guitar riffs, shows a marked improvement when considering the technical nature of Sectu’s brand of death metal. Although they can’t seem to hold on a full time bassist, it’s clear that between the three of them Sectu has a winning line-up as of the release of Gerra.

Of course saying it’s more of the same is only well and good if you’re already acquainted with Inundate, so for the newcomers to Sectu’s music the formula is one of using technical playing and occasional progressive influences to flavour their death metal sound rather than control and dominate it. The songs are typically short, with only one passing the five minute mark, and to the point compositions that don’t wane in their death metal brutality to accommodate technicality for the sake of it. Basically Sectu writes killer tracks that cater well to both fans of old school death metal and those who enjoy the more challenging material of technical death metal. The biggest difference is Stefan Lundgren’s growl, which sounds a bit different to how he performed on Inundate. As for as growling vocals go I think he’s achieved a bit more unique tone on Gerra.

Gerra is also of a more substantial length compared to Inundate, clocking in at 41:56 rather that 33:02, making it a much more fulfilling album for quantity even if ultimately the release doesn’t see the band producing an album that is that much better than their debut. I think that Gerra is just about the superior record of the two, mostly because of the noted improvement in their riffs, but at the end of the day there isn’t much to separate the two quality wise. However when you’re talking albums that are of the exceptional quality of Inundate and Gerra, there isn’t really anything to complain about and I really do think there’ll be a top quality masterpiece down the line for these guys, hopefully more than one.

9.4/10

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven (http://metaltube.freeforums.org))