### Sarke: Oldarhian

#### 13/09/11 || gk

Sarke was formed in 2008 by Thomas Berglie aka Sarke playing guitar, drums and bass with Nocturno Culto from Darkthrone handling vocal duties. The duo released their debut in 2008 and 2011 sees Sarke releasing their second album, “Oldarhian”.

As the album kicks off with “Condemned” it’s apparent that the duo are still following a punky black thrash vibe that is groovy but also raw and slightly primitive sounding. Nocturno’s vocals are gruff and natural while the riffs are catchy and with some background synth that heightens the atmosphere. “Pilgrim of the Occult” starts with a groovy mid paced riff with backing synth and the verse sounds like a nod to Bathory while the chorus is more modern chug. The song ebbs and flows through a variety of moods and is one of the highlights of the album. “Flay the Wolf” is my favourite song here with a main riff that current Darkthrone would have been proud of and a superb catchy groove. The synth is again used perfectly, heightening the atmosphere of the song as things relatively speed up, before a classic heavy metal lead guitar section provides the break between chorus and verse. While the songs are all mostly mid paced and thrashy with hints of punk, black and doom metal, the second half of the album gets decidedly slower. “Captured” starts with a clean guitar melody that reminds me of Norway’s Funeral and is generally more doom metal in nature than anything else. “Paradigm Lost” is another seriously catchy song. “Novel Dawn” throws another spanner in the songwriting works and while shifting seamlessly between a thrash punk verse and doomy atmosphere with another memorable main riff.

The album on the whole is very catchy. There’s no other word to really describe the songs here. Sure, Nocturno Culto’s voice can get a bit monotonous but the songwriting is always inventive and every song has a solid and memorable groove to back it up. The band sounds like it takes equal influences from Bathory and Celtic Frost to Darkthrone, Khold and even The Exploited in this album’s punk approach. The only real complaint i can make is that the album generally lacks a bit in dynamics with most of the songs varying between mid paced and slow tempos.

“Oldarhian” is a worthy follow up to the bands debut “Vorunah” and is a few steps up in terms of quality. The album does get better with every listen and while the songs may sound simplistic on first listen there is a depth and complexity to the songwriting that shines through with repeated listens. This album is definitely worth checking out for fans of either musician. Overall “Oldarhian” as an album is impressive and also hints at a very promising future.

- Information
- Released: 2011
- Label: Indie Recordings
- Website: Sarke MySpace
- Band
- Nocturno Culto: vocals
- Sarke: guitars, bass, drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Condemned
- 02. Pilgrim of the Occult
- 03. Pessimist
- 04. Passage to Oldarhian
- 05. Flay the Wolf
- 06. Captured
- 07. Paradigm Lost
- 08. Novel Dawn
- 09. Burning of the Monoliths
- 10. The Stranger Brew