Swedish doom metallers Sorcerer achieved a sort of near mythic status during the late 1980s and early '90s, issuing a pair of acclaimed demos that made the underground rounds and invoked names like
Candlemass,
Solitude Aeturnus, and
Cathedral. After their second demo in 1992, the band splintered, with bassist/co-founder John Hagel joining
Tiamat, and the rest of the group pursuing other musical paths. Fifteen years later, Hagel decided to start up the old machinery, enlisting guitarists Kristian Niemann (
Therion) and Ola Englund (the latter of whom who would later leave to join
Six Feet Under), drummer Robert Iversen, and original Sorcerer vocalist
Anders Engberg. After honing their chops on the festival circuit, the band headed into the studio to carve up a proper debut, and the resulting Metal Blade-issued
In the Shadow of the Inverted Cross is as solid a slab of doomy goodness as one could hope for in a record that's been in the making for over 25 years. Dense, religiously down-tuned, yet surprisingly nimble and melodic in spots, the eight-track set is a testament to both the band's tenacity and their veteran status. It's purist doom metal to be sure, but the bandmembers skillfully pepper the proceedings with elements of power, death, and symphonic metal (things they gleaned from their previous projects), resulting in a textbook set of drop-d atom bombs that are as forward thinking as they are rooted (and rightly so) in the past. [
In the Shadow... was also released on LP.] ~ James Christopher Monger