Hailing from Poland, SARMAT is a Black/Death Metal band who deals with themes of destruction, and human fears and obsessions. "Determined to Strike" is their second full-length, and has six songs. "Formed from Filth" is the first. The opening tones are fairly chaotic, and the vocals are filthy, vile utterances. A jazzy section pops up from nowhere, and the lead guitar work is quite good. The juxtaposition is marked. "Landform" begins with eerie piano notes before the decent into near madness. This is some very unique music, and I would expect nothing less considering the record label. The structure of the song barley holds on through a variety of odd passages and dissonant tones.

"Arsenal of Tyranny" is much heavier and more brutal, with a distinct Death/Black Metal sound out of the gates. The guitar work is very dissonant, and you can feel the tyranny as a breath of blackness upon the back of your neck. Trumpet and other instruments join in, but they almost seem out of place. That's the kind of stew the band is cooking. "Enervated" is another twisted song, where the branches from the tree grow in all directions. It is black at its base and seems to grow where there is no water source. "Determined to Strike" has pandemonic qualities that never quite settle in. Try to count the beat, for example, you can't. There is hardly any kind of structure here.

"Disturbing Advances" closes the album. The entrance is all over the place. Trumpet notes, wild drumming and riffing, and other instruments are playing what sounds like whatever they want. A riff comes out of nowhere, and eventually it settles into a smooth, jazzy passage, but played by the undead. It begins a maddening crescendo until completion. I liked the album. The band's style is somewhere between free Jazz and deep Death Metal. The combination of the two is a juxtaposition, but those who can think outside of the box will enjoy this. It's within the realm of unusual for sure, but also creative, and the band members are excellent musicians.