For anyone whose been living under a rock totally unaware of Serocs for the last few years, its time to crawl out from under it and embrace the creative chaos streaming below from Serocs newest record, And When The Sky Was Opened. The band first appeared on my listening radar when they released their last record, The Next, back in 2013. After hearing that I delved into their releases prior to that which led me to the information that Serocs had started out as a one man band by Mexican based guitarist Antonio Freyre. Over the years the band has changed members, but have always retained their fiery and unique sound regardless of who joins or leaves. All while never having played in the same room together ever! Beyond main composer Antonio Freyre, the group re-added phenomenal Canadian guitarist Phil Tougas (First Fragment) to the line-up for their new record, as well as bringing former vocalist Josh Smith (ex-Monumental Torment) back into the fold. Seroc's line-up is rounded out by longtime members Mike Poggione (Monstrosity, ex-Capharnaum, ex-Lecherous Nocturne) on bass guitar and famed Finnish drummer Timo Häkkinen.
The evolution the band's sound has undergone from The Next to how they sound on And When The Sky Was Opened is pretty damn impressive. And I say that as someone who absolutely loved every song on The Next. While some of this may be due to the contributions guitarist Phil Tougas brought to the table, the band made it clear after releasing The Next that they'd be shooting for something more ambitious and diverse with their next record. Since that was their goal for the direction of And When The Sky Was Opened, I'd say they definitely succeeded in upping the ante for how Serocs sounds. For those unfamiliar with Serocs, they play a rather chaotic and venomous form of technical death metal that often reminds me of mid-era Cryptopsy. Even after numerous listens of the record, I'm still catching new things every time I spin it since it's a very intricate album featuring outstanding performances by each member. So give a listen below and see if you don't agree with me that And When The Sky Was Opened is one of the best damn death metal records of the year.
Serocs- And When The Sky Was Opened comes out next Friday, November 27th through Comatose Music. If you want to order a physical copy from their label, go here. Digital copies can be ordered through their bandcamp page.
https://soundcloud.com/clawhammerpr/sets/serocs-and-when-the-sky-was-opened/s-Qo0xO
