It's not heresy to say that Norwegian Black Metal suffered a great change after the murder of Euronymous and trial of Varg Vikernes. These particular events called a lot of attention for what Norwegian Black Metal bands were doing, and the genre regained status after long years laid in the underground depths. But as time passed by, many names that were worshiped by the fans of the genre started to change their music and caused disappointments to them. DARKTHRONE is one of them, because the fans never saw in a good way the change from that primitive and nasty form of Black Metal to a Metal Punk orientation. For those in this way, SARKE's work can be a good choice, because "Allsighr" is really a very good release.

But one think must be stated: the presence of Nocturno Culto (DARKTHRONE's vocalist, here using a different set of tunes, not his usual shrieks or his imitation of Lemmy's tunes, but with a lower insight) doesn't mean that the quintet plays on a similar way of the main band of the singer. No, it's a nasty mutation between Norwegian Black Metal with clear influences from early German Black/Thrash Metal with some keyboards parts tempering things. It's somber, aggressive and climatic, but full of bonecrushing Black/Thrash Metal hooks, and with a nasty energy flowing from the songs. The works of Børge Finstad and Kevin Kleiven on the recordings, along with the mixing of Lars-Erik Westby and the mastering of Thomas Eberger created a bitter and weighty sound quality, combining the needed definition for the band to express its ideas with a set of crude instrumental tunes. And it can be said is that the final result is great.

"Bleak Reflections" with its very good tempos and nasty ambiences (created by the strategic somber keyboards parts that contrast with the guitar riffs), "Grim Awakening" (another climatic song with slow paced tempos created by bass guitar and drums), "Funeral Fire" (filled with catchy instrumental arrangements and massive guitar riffs), "Allsighr" (another very good moment from bass guitar and drums), "Beheading of the Circus Director" (a massive weight comes from this one, with filthy melodic solos in a similar way to MOTÖRHEAD, aligned with an aggressive set of tunes from the vocals), and "The Reverberation of the Lost" (with these nasty and somber melodic solos of the guitars contrasting with the keyboards and vocals) are the best shots of the album.

To enter the deeper core of what "Allsighr" is demands patience and freedom from conceptions (once more: you won't find something lost from early Black metal releases on it). But SARKE is really a very good name and inherit the spirit of Norwegian Black Metal, so listen to it and enjoy.