Sacriversum - Before the Birth of Light

Before the Birth of Light is the latest album from Polish act Sacriversum. The album is set for release on May 8th via Fireflash Records.

This band have had quite an interesting past. Formed in the early 90’s their debut album The Shadow Of The Golden Fire is a cult old school death metal release of sorts (as was the style at the time!). For the next decade the band adopted a slightly different approach, playing a gothic sounding brand of melodic metal until their eventual split in 2005. Now, some 20 years later, and 30+ years after their debut album release, they return. Not only have they reformed but they have also returned to a more old school sound, albeit there is still plenty of layers to what the band are delivering. If I was more familiar with the band’s entire catalogue I might go so far to say they’ve come up with a blend of everything they’ve done in the past on a single record, whilst harking back to the debut.

The overall offering on Before the Birth of Light is progressive death metal. But this album doesn’t sound like anyone else in particular - there are lots of prominent influences in the mix but on the whole it’s a relatively unique sound. Guttural vocals, heavy yet melodic guitars with lots of different sections within each song, great bass lines, and intricate drumming. Most notably, the band have a prominent keyboard player, Krzysztof Baran, which creates a point of difference to this release. On some of the songs he plays with Hammond Organ tones, like Deep Purple supercharged! On others, he is adding layers of synth like you’d find in progressive metal - playing keyboard leads and adding textures. That split between of Hammond organ styles versus more modern tones can also be used to speak about the whole album. Some of the tracks are more ‘old school death thrash / death metal’ influenced, some are almost melodic death sounding, whilst others are more progressive sounding: almost like a death- metal-label-mate of a band like Symphony X.

I’ve had this album stream for a while now and I must say I really enjoy this release. I find a lot to like in most of the tracks but my absolute favourites are We're Storming Through The Night, March Of The Giants & the 8 minute riff fest closing track, Chief Of The Fearless. One of the great aspects about a band being dormant for 20 years is that when they do re-emerge, they have plenty of strong material to work with. I can hear the care and attention to detail and in the song writing and arrangements on this release. Each track has multiple great riffs and parts to leave a strong impression. I really love the production too. I particularly enjoy the way that the bass rattles away in it’s own space alongside the guitars, and the vocals sound ferocious.

I’ve really enjoyed this album, and suspect plenty of SoT readers will also find plenty to enjoy on this release too. Strongly Recommended for fans of progressive metal and death metal!

Track Listing
1. From The Sea Side
2. We're Storming Through The Night
3. Let Us Ride The World
4. Golden Lights Of Valhalla
5. March Of The Giants
6. Before The Birth Of Light
7. We Die, We Fly
8. Chaotic Realm Of The Sea
9. Chief Of The Fearless

Added: April 21st 2026
Reviewer: Chris Reid
Score:
Related Link: Sacriversum @ bandcamp
Hits: 70
Language: english

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