UMUR
"Necessary Excess of Violence" is the fourth full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act Sorcery. The album was released through Xtreem Music in August 2019. It´s the successor to "Garden of Bones" from 2016. Sorcery formed in 1986 and released several seminal Swedish death/thrash metal demos (one under the Sorcery's Malediction monicker) before being picked up by Underground Records for the release of their debut full-length studio album "Bloodchilling Tales" (August 1991). Sorcery subsequently put out the 1992 "Maculated" demo but eventually disbanding in 1997 without any further releases under their belts. Years went by but in 2009 Sorcery opted to reunite and "Necessary Excess of Violence" is now their third studio album after their comeback.
Stylistically the material on the 10 tracks, 46:03 minutes long album is relatively standard old school Swedish death metal. The vocals are aggressive and intelligible growling, the HM2 buzzsaw guitar tone is in place and so are the occasional morbid harmonies- and lead guitar parts. To my ears Sorcery sound a lot like Dismember on this album and while Dismember isn´t the worst group to be influenced by, a more personal sound would have made "Necessary Excess of Violence" an overall more interesting release. But of course you can´t fault a dog for being a dog, and Sorcery have earned their credibility being one of the seminal Swedish death metal artists and they can can play the music style they want.
The sound production is exactly what you´d expect from a release like this. Raw, brutal, and with that dominant HM2 guitar pedeal turned to 11 tone which pretty much defines the whole soundscape. Fans of the genre will love this one, while more casual fans will probably just listen to the classics of the genre instead (which includes "Bloodchilling Tales"). When that is said "Necessary Excess of Violence" is still a good quality old school Swedish death metal release and a 3.5 star (70%) rating isn´t all wrong.
