Now comes the band’s first full length Bir Devrin Sonu, I say full length, but Sakatat ever being a tease, have in actuality put out a one sided LP, about as minimalist as a full length can be totalling a run time of 8 minutes and 9 seconds. Well I suppose it’s a middle ground compromise, us fans dreaming of a full full-length and Sakatat not wanting to go over the 6 minute mark and risk repetitive strain injury from the supersonic tempo’s they rev up to.
Focusing attention to the actual content of the release, I can say with absolute certainty that this is one that will not disappoint, it’s an endless and unforgiving blitzkrieg of ruthless blasts, gutting riffs and sociopathic screams. Guitarist Onucran seems to be on some diet of arabic coffee and energy drinks, a state of frenzy that has allowed him to churn out one crushing riff after another with such precision and maintenance of brutality, whilst still keeping a robust sense of progression, I have to question if he really is mortal or in fact some music mastering diety incarnated in human form; I am inclined to the latter. A supposition that could hold true for the drummer Kayar too, who endlessly pounds the drums in various play styles as if attempting to go through every permutation of the blast beat possible in the shortest time conceivable. As for the vocal arrangement so singularly presented by vocalist Semih they are the insane throat-shredding howls and squawks that we have come to expect out of Sakatat giving their work that distinct edge and completely misanthropic character.
Although bound to upset the basement dwelling mincefiends who think lo-fi is the only way to go, the production values are as slick as they get, with that crystalline purity really doing wonders across all the elements of their grind arsenal; allowing for complete distinction of singular riffs and blasts, and going further in preventing the drums, vox and strings from overlapping and colliding with one another, a hazard that occurs too often when everything is going at such great speeds with a volatility to match. That is not to suggest that each component has its own agenda and is to be taken with a sense of individuality, if anything the complete opposite is true, each component being an integral part to the other giving the release its own organic embrace.
The overall texture of the release has that distinct Wormrot feel to it, most noticeably from the distinct audio fullness and clarity befitting a good recording and subsequent mastering, a noticeable step up from Sakatat’s previous efforts which although commendable don’t quite compare to this latest endeavour. The homologue with Wormrot doesn’t end there either, this album is some of the best old school worship out there being the perfect fusion of early Napalm Death and Agathocles influences, but with more than sufficient extraversion of character to make Sakatat a force upon itself.
Bir Devrin Sonu which aptly translates to End of an Era, is an album title that is entirely self-descriptive, annotating the power shift in the mincecore hierarchy, and likely marks the start of the end of Wormrots/Pig Destroyers No 1, Grind spot, because these Anatolian merchants of grind have just unleashed something there is no turning back from.
Catch them on their highly anticipated European Tour here
