Reviews: SAT288
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For most of us time is no longer like a methodically ticking clock, the days no longer marked by the calendar or the forward motion from one scheduled routine to the next. Instead it’s like a disorienting fog, the days running into each other, each one like the one before and the one after, to the point where it’s easy to forget what day it is, or what the point is — other than to stay away from other people. The calendar says today is a Sunday, but it might as well be a Monday or a Friday. So why not have a premiere today?
The one we have is a skin-shivering track named “Kind of God” from the Greek death metal band Skarz off their debut album What Remains, which is set for release on April 21st by the triumvirate of Satanath Records, More Hate Productions, and Exhumed Records.
Skarz is the union of guitarist/vocalist Kostas Sarcastic and bassist/drummer Dimon’s Night, who draw their influences from the late ’80s and early ’90s, paying homage to the likes of Death, Obituary, Deicide, and Benediction. They’ve got carefully crafted guitar tones in their arsenal, along with macabre vocals, a taste for rhythmic dynamism, and a talent for creating moods of horror and savagery in the old ways found at the dawn of the genre.
Morbidly gruesome and savagely deranged, “Kind of God” conjures visions of rotting corpses crawling from their moldering graves and demon dogs ripping and tearing into innocent flesh with rabid ferocity. Skarz also tie together these starkly contrasting sensations with elements of dismal and desperate melody which continue to hunt and haunt the mind after the song ends.
Armed with grim and grisly riffs, manically quivering leads, and a battering percussive drive, Skarz launch the track with a vicious overture, then slow into a gruesome march, and then become an uncaged flurry of deranged scissoring leads and furiously hammering drums. The vocals mutate from raw, noxious screams to bestial guttural roars. Wild flailing melodies burn through the mayhem, and as the pace relents, a slow solo channels a desolate mood. When the band again throw caution to the winds and explode in another fury, the boiling riffs, rapidly pulsing bass, and flickering lunatic leads throw us back into the madness of an asylum beset with a conflagration of disease and raging violence.
https://www.nocleansinging.com/2020/04/05/an-ncs-premiere-skarz-kind-of-god/
Storming out of the gates is a fresh new set of death metal fury that packs all of the filth to the imagery but plenty of clarity to the construction. Skarz are pretty straightforward with this, keeping the formula rather simplistic, laying down Obituary-styled vocals over some tasty riffage that blends in thrash ingredients as well. Like the splattered spew of skulls and horror on the album cover, their upcoming release What Remains is sure to quench the thirst of anybody who digs the primal days of the death and thrash genres.
Ahead of its release, Skarz are offering up “Family Obligation,” a fast rager that drops riff after riff, only to fall into a stomp-loaded outing. Constant jumps on the fret-board allow this scorching tune to simmer out on a slower note, nicely contrasting the fast energy that the majority of this songs boasts. So jump into the pit of riffs by hitting that link below!
https://www.indymetalvault.com/2020/03/13/track-premiere-skarz-family-obligation/
Well, it wasn’t difficult to guess the blue-prints the Greek blokes from Skarz used for their debut release… Dimon’s Night and Kostas Sarcastic, who know eachother of Humanity Zero, grabbed Death’s “Leprosy”, “Spiritual Healing” and “Human” of the shelves, along with Pestilence’s “Consuming Impulse” and “Testimony of the Ancients” and poured a Mamelli / Tardy-like vocal on it.
The album flows from chopping Old School Death Metal riffs to a more technical passage with an emphasised bass (a bit Steve DiGiorgio like) and back to an Old School approach. Sometimes you hear some other approach as well like on “Deathing till T(h)rash”, which has Obituary’s signature from the very beginning.
“What Remains” is without any doubt a pleasant listen, but if they can raise the bar on their second album to find the fine balance between Old School riffs, technical parts, solos and song writing in general, it is something to look out for!
http://www.vm-underground.com/review/skarz-what-remains/
Judge by yourself : Kostas Sarcastic (guitars, vocals) is involved in two other bands and his co-worker, going by the mysterious moniker of Dimon's Night (bass, drums), has joined forces with, er, almost ten.
Again, this doesn't necessarily entail all of them are brilliant, but with a dozen albums having been born all in all and many different styles having been practiced, the accumulated experience must be solid. And it tells something about passion, doesn't it ? "Eponymous" death metal (understand, when bands evolve within the limits set by Chuck Schuldiner and his work) sometimes remains a bit complicated to me, and I feel less connected with it than with Swedish death or thrash-death the way bands from Eastern Europe, like Vader or Krabathor, play it.
My favourite Death tracks come from The Sound Of Perseverance (come on, throw me some potatoes peeling) but still I love listening to any masterpiece those legends have issued before that swan song.
Things like that happen when you watch referential movies by presumably not-to-be-missed sophisticated directors : those movies are very pleasant to watch, but you know you don't understand everything.
It's no wonder Skarz make me feel the exact same way : the genre is not really my cup of tea, yet objectively, I would be deaf and mad not to conclude their first try is a masterpiece. Listen to the drums, flawless.
Listen to the vocals, basically exactly what you expect in that type of extreme music. Listen to the riffs. Complex but fluid and complementary.
The web wowen by both friends (I guess) is incredibly rich and tells a story that you refuse to let down. I've been listening to those eight tracks again and again and I'm captivated by what is told here, musically speaking.
Actually, Skarz are so good that they would be able to make you get into that kind of death metal in spite of your initial reluctance.
The technical level is above suspicion and the intensity injected in the composition and the execution allowed the whole to raise even higher standards.
"Skarz", the first track, introduces you to the world of the Greek band so fiercely that you instantly guess the attraction will last until the end.
And when "Kind Of God" expires, that idea is engraved in your minds : you cannot be wrong, Skarz is for you, whatever your usual tastes.
https://www.facebook.com/109155540626488/posts/206636634211711/
El sello ruso Satanath Records, en colaboración con Exhumed Records y More Hate Productions, publica el primer álbum del dúo griego formado por Kostas Sarcastic (voz, guitarra) y Dimon’s Night (bajo, batería), o lo que es lo mismo SKARZ, una banda que rinde tributo al Death Metal de vieja escuela. Un total de ocho cortes son los que componen este debut bautizado como “What Remains” y fueron gestados en los Demons Studios con las mezclas y masterización del propio Dimon’s Night. Todo ello con una imagen en blanco y negro realizada por Paint-It-Black Design que no deja lugar a dudas acerca del tipo de música que vamos a encontrar en el álbum.
SKARZ son una banda de Death Metal puro y duro, con alguna influencia del Thrash Metal más agresivo y con un rollo totalmente anclado a la vieja escuela, por lo que no es de extrañar que su sonido sea añejo, crudo y underground. Por otro lado “What Remains” está salpicado de influencias fácilmente reconocibles, especialmente por esa forma de cantar que recuerda a una mezcla entre ASPHYX y OBITUARY, aunque también hay pinceladas musicales que te traen a la cabeza a bandas tan dispares como los primeros SEPULTURA, DEATH, BENEDICTION… Una buena combinación que en manos de estos dos tipos ha servido para forjar un álbum más que apetecible en el que se alternan los riffs a toda hostia con algunos cambios de ritmo más pausados y oscuros que ayudan a recrear un ambiente tétrico que contrasta con la violencia sonora que tanto abunda en los temas.
“What Remains” es un gran álbum dentro de lo que es el Death Metal de vieja escuela hecho en nuestros días, y pese a que no hay nada realmente original en su propuesta hay que decir que cualquier fan del sonido de finales de los 80 y comienzos de los 90 va a disfrutar como un loco con el feeling y la autenticidad que SKARZ han sabido recrear en su debut. Y es que, en estos casos, no hace falta complicarse inventando nada nuevo, basta con ser fiel a los maestros de antaño y perpetuar el culto al Death Metal puro y duro que se practicaba décadas atrás, tan alejado de las producciones un tanto artificiales de hoy en día y con un rollo que pone los pelos de punta. De modo que si te va la buena caña te recomiendo que des una escucha al material de esta gente.
https://noizzwebzine.blogspot.com/2020/10/skarz-what-remains.html
Hlásek jak konipásek…SKARZ, řecká death metalová squadra věrná klasickému pojetí výstavby márnic, piteven a krematorií, disponuje vokálem jako z hlubin pekel. Toť první výrazný dojem, který na mě SKARZ udělali hned po několika prvních taktech, kdy se vokál rozeřval se silou hokynáře ze Žižkova z hrobu vstalého. Že v tom slyšíte Johna Tardyho zkříženého s Martinem Van Drunnenem? Podoba hlasu je zřejmá, nijak zvlášť ovšem nevadí. Po hudební stránce se další podobnost nekoná a SKARZ si mezi úzkými old school (když říkám old, tak myslím ten syrový na thrash metalu vyrostlý starý dobrý death metal) mantinely vypracovali svůj vcelku osobitý styl, zlehka koketující s technickými prostocviky. Čí prsty se takto kdysi proháněly po hmatníku, není takový problém rozeznat a příjemně se právě tahle inspirace poslouchá i na „What Remains“ – zdroje inspirace jsou na rovinu přiznány a nepůsobí jako laciná kopírovačka, ale jako s respektem použité koření do oblíbeného hlavního chodu (takoví GRUESOME by mohli vypravovat).
SKARZ, jak už je jasné z úvodu, znějí maximálně dobově. Konec osmdesátých let a dejme tomu maximálně do roku 1992, to byla ta správná doba, kdy se datuje vznik mnoha stylotvorných alb a právě zde leží onen nesvatý grál, ze kterého ponejvíce čerpá „What Remains“. Střednětempý syrový death metal, nikterak komplikovaná struktura skladeb, který se neobejde bez řádně silné morbidní atmosféry. Jako bych tetku s kosou slyšel brousit okolo a přivřeným oknem čpěl do místnosti zatuchlý puch nevětrané a kapacitně naplněné hrobky – právě a především pro soulad atmosféry a syrovosti mám pro starý death metal zvláštní slabost. Nic na tom nemění, že mi SKARZ dávají vzpomenout na staré PESTILENCE, ASPHYX stejně jako na legendu legend – první trojici alb DEATH, a díky vokálu v pomalých pasážích cítím závan starých OBITUARY.
Inspirace cti netratí, zvláště v případě, kdy SKARZ působí jako srdcaři, kteří mají death metalový zlatý fond zažraný hluboko po kůží a je pro ně stejně přirozený jako pro lva sežrat antilopu. Na „What Remains“ předvádějí starou dobrou death metalovou ruční práci s patřičným řemeslným fortelem a mistrným citem pro morbidní atmosféru, a ne jako že teď nemáme do čeho píchnout, tak „si dáme starý death, poskládáme metodou pokus omyl osvědčené šablonky dohromady a uvidíme jak to dopadne“. Tudy opravdu cesty „What Remains“ nevedou – SKARZ sice mohou působit jako vykradači hrobů, ovšem to by jim musela absolutně scházet ta odzbrojující nenucenost, s jakou tuto kolekci osmi smrtelných archaismů dali dohromady. Pro milovníky starých pořádků budou SKARZ velmi chutnou krmí, pro ty, co ujíždějí na současných směrech extrémního metalu to je ideální studijní materiál pro cesty zpět časem, aniž by měli přílišný retro pocit. "What Remains" je totiž stále v kloubech překvapivě velmi pružné a čiperné album, které dokáže nepřipraveného nebožáka slušně potrhat!!!
https://www.metal-line.cz/articles/recenze-skarz-what-remains-2020-satanath-records-1789
Много ли вы знаете дэт-метал групп с родины Аполлона? Лично я так сразу могу вспомнить только Kronos, которые уже канули в лету, и Septicflesh. В основном греки больше специализируются на блэке.
Греческая банда Skarz, о которой сегодня пойдет речь, состоит всего из двух участников. Kostas и Dim были знакомы уже давно и долго вместе играли, но в один прекрасный день они решили объединить свои музыкальные усилия и создать общий проект. Этих ребят объединяла любовь к олскульному дэту, и они мечтали воплотить свои идеи в жизнь.
19 апреля 2020 года увидел свет дебютный альбом Skarz «What Remains» - cовместный релиз Satanath Records с More Hate Productions и Exhumed Records.
Лирика пластинки отличается большим разнообразием, она затрагивает социальные проблемы и туманные перспективы будущего.
В музыкальном плане это – классический old school death metal с небольшой примесью трэша, в материале чувствуется влияние первых двух работ Pestilence, Benediction и Obituary. Кстати, вокал очень сильно напоминает Джона Тарди.
В общем, поклонникам дэт-метала конца 80-х-начала 90-х этот диск должен прийтись по душе. Вряд ли вы здесь услышите что-то новое, но едва ли музыканты стремились изобрести велосипед. Это - просто приятный качественный дэт, под который не грех и поностальгировать по былым временам.
https://vk.com/@kalistka-recenziya-na-albom-skarz-what-remains-2020
Bom início de discografia por parte dos gregos Skarz. Tenho que confessar que apesar deste “What Remains” não ter despertado logo ao início, com a devida rodagem, o seu death metal vintage cresceu bastante. Não sendo perfeito apresenta os argumentos essenciais para todos os fãs do género. Bons riffs, uma voz com presença e vontade para continuar a ouvir mais vezes. “What Remains” é death metal, sem grandes invenções. E por vezes o que nos faz falta na vida é mesmo isso.
Skarz is a Death/Thrash act composed of veterans of the Greek scene, with Dimitris Sakkes on bass and drums and Konstantinos K. on guitars and vocals. This is pretty much straight Death worship, with relentless energy and somewhat technical songwriting, though they don't really have the ear for riffs or solos that Chuck did. The tendency of the songs to go at hyperspeed also robs them of their identity, making many tracks kind of blend together. Still, this is a fairly professional work from a couple of seasoned pros, all supported by the Tardy-esque grunts of K. to Sakkes solid bass work, which is given a refreshing amount of prominence in the mix. There are even some standout tracks to be found, like the blackened, Obituary-esque "Kind of God" and "Family Obligation", which sounds like a song you'd find on Human and Individual Thought Patterns, though the ending is a bit sloppy and confused. This is far from perfect, but fans of Death and Obituary will find this album worth checking out and this band worth watching out for in the future.
http://www.metalcrypt.com/pages/review.php?revid=12339
Screen.
https://metaller.club/2020/11/15/skarz%e2%9b%a7what-remains-review/
Skarz plays a really cool mixture of oldschool Death Metal with Thrash elements which hits right in the middle between Obituary, Death and Destruction.
The Album "What Remains" gives you over the 8 songs a cool "back in the day" experience when Death Metal came up and it wasn't called oldschool, just Death Metal.
For all fans of Obituary and especially Death this is a must have. The record sounds a little bit like a straight follow up to "Scream Bloody Gore" or "Leprosy" but with its own touch of writing songs.
The Desires of worshippers of that kind of era will be force fed in a beautiful way and filled up! So grab your copy and bang your head to this sick piece of gory, blasting Art.
Death will never die!!!
Certo che i greci quando si tratta di Extreme Metal old school la prendono di sicuro seriamente; le lande elleniche in ambito estremo sono, come ben sappiamo, terreno fertile per il Black Metal, mentre meno famosa ma altrettanto fertile è la scena Death, che va a riempirsi con un altro nome nuovo di zecca: quello degli Skarz, duo ateniese formato da Kostas Sarcastic (voce, chitarra) e Dimon's Night (basso, batteria), musicisti già ampiamente attivi nel sottobosco greco con diversi altri progetti. Con Skarz sembra che i Nostri abbiano voluto rendere il loro tributo agli Obituary, influenza primaria del loro sound come è possibile ascoltare in questo debutto targato Satanath Records (insieme a More Hate Productions) intitolato "What Remains". Non solo Obituary però, ma anche i Deicide più crudi degli esordi e i Benediction e passaggi più tecnici à la Death del medio periodo; il lavoro è tutto sommato lineare: si ascolta discretamente bene e presenta un paio di brano veramente interessanti come "Talking Ded" e la title track, salvo poi lasciare nulla di memorabile a fine ascolto. Fondamentalmente, "What Remains" è una mezz'ora circa di buon intrattenimento Death Metal che s'ascolta ogni tanto, ma che difficilmente, a nostro avviso, potrebbe essere uno di quei lavori che una volta finiti nel lettore CD ne escono difficilmente. Un pizzico di personalità in più, ad esempio, non avrebbe guastato, ma ciò non toglie che, come dicevamo, gli Skarz offrono un prodotto più che sufficiente che la promozione va a meritarsela tutta. Un ascolto consigliato, che male non fa!
SKARZ kommen hier mit einigen wirklich guten Songs. Schon der Opener gibt die Marschrichtung vor. Es gibt heftiges Gekloppe und hektisch-disharmonisches Riffing. Gleichzeitig aber sind auch durchaus simplere, schwere Death-Parts zu hören. Ein Song wie "Serpent of Darkness" oder "Talking Dead" fügt diesem Gemisch noch ein bisschen einer Thrash Metal-Note hinzu, ist aber im Ganzen wieder ähnlich abwechslungsreich. Ob Brutal Death Metal in "Skarz" oder Black Metal-Anleihen im "Kind of God", ein ganz großer Pluspunkt von "What Remains" ist auf jeden Fall die Abwechslung. SKARZ verstehen es hervorragend, ihren Death Metal über die komplette Albumspielzeit nicht langweilig werden zu lassen. Sehr viele ihrer Genrekollegen scheitern genau daran regelmäßig. Mit "What Remains2 liefern SKARZ ein amtliches Werk ab, das Fans von schwedischem und amerikanischem Death Metal gleichermaßen zufriedenstellen wird. Dabei wirkt nicht zusammengeschustert, ganz im Gegenteil bildet sich hier eine besondere Atmosphäre, eine düstere Einheit. "What Remains" weiß zu überzeugen.
https://www.kobzr-magazine.de/cd-reviews/s/skarz-what-remains/
One of my very first death metal experiences was Obituary and their “Slowly We Rot”. Back then it was all so new so you didn’t really know what to think of it. Nowadays the world of death metal is so broad that it at times is hard to keep track of it all. And you get all sorts of styles. Like Greek SKARZ (a band name I think is more punk than death) and their old school Obituary influenced death. No matter how much I listen to this I cannot shake the Obituary vibes I get from it. And I don’t mean that in a negative way. If you like you death metal old school and to the basic this is the ultimate Autopsy/Obituary ride right now.
Skarz is a new death metal formation hailing from Greece and "What Remains" is their debut release consisting of eight old-school hymns. The Greek duo, Kostas Sarcastic (guitars/vocals) and Dimon's Night (drums/bass), maximally focused on Death's "Leprosy" album, thus the result is similar in all aspects to that classic, except minus any kind of originality. This band pays tribute to Chuck's heritage and in general to the 90s death metal movement, which, of course, is a good thing. The sound production is rather enjoyable and reminiscent to those 90s recordings too. I am not sure about the success of this release at all, as I personally would better listen to the old classics instead of "What Remains". Anyway, if you want to listen to over 35 minutes of death metal music that will 70% remind you the early materials of Death, Obituary and Cynic, then surely go to the link below and give a listen to Skarz! Also interesting to me, will this album be followed by another one or just a one-off release. Well, time shall tell us...
http://castrum.com.ua/encomium/7albums3.htm
Греческий дуэт Skarz – это результат творческой коллаборации Костаса Саркастика (гитара/вокал, Sarcastic Obedience, экс-Humanity Zero) и Ночи Димона (он же Dimon’s Night – Димитрис Саккас, бас/барабаны, Humanity Zero, Inhibitions, Horrorgraphy etc.). Обязанности при создании своего дебютника “What Remains” музыканты разделили следующим образом: Костас написал всю музыку и тексты, Димон же всё это дело смикшировал и отмастерил. Лого и обложку афинянам нарисовал российский художник Владимир Прокофьев (Paint-In-Black Design). Сразу стоит сказать, что альбом вряд ли понравится потребителям экстремального мэйнстрима, а вот любителям позитивного андеграундного забоя здесь определённо есть чем поживиться. “What Remains” – это злобное, непричёсанное и звероподобное дэт-трэшевое (именно в такой последовательности) полотно с привкусом позднего Vader, упором на слегка хаотичный гитарный риффинг и крайне интенсивной работой ритм-секции. Барабаны выведены на передний план и звучат настолько напористо и агрессивно, что даже в среднетемповых фрагментах подсознательно ждёшь бластбитов! Релиз отличается весьма достойным плотным звуком, обилием гудящих булькающих соляков и грамотным чередованием быстрых и заторможенных партий. Композиционно материал достаточно прост, но вместе с тем несёт мощный энергетический заряд. Очень хорошо вписывается со своим голосом в общую картину Костас – он изрыгает яростные телеги про “shitty leech” и “deathing till t(h)rash” в лучших традициях Тарди/Ван Друнена (Obituary и Asphyx соответственно) с лёгким отзвуком Патрика Мамели (Pestilence). Наиболее зацепившие треки – скоростной стартовый “Skarz”, достаточно разнообразный относительно остального материала “Family Obligation” и удививший неожиданным мелодичным вступлением “Kind of God”. Ещё одним несомненным плюсом альбома является его адекватная продолжительность в 36 минут – все восемь песен пролетают на одном дыхании, не успевая наскучить. Без сомнений, даже при всей личной симпатии “What Remains” сложно назвать выдающейся работой – всё-таки объективно этот релиз из серии «один из», но, тем не менее, свою порцию положительных эмоций он подарить способен.
https://vk.com/wall-195396786_15518