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Rumor has it that Athens, Greece-based Sarabante swore off live performances for nearly three years to refine, perfect and record their debut album, Remnants. Their sacrifice and dedication were clearly worthwhile, as the swollen, poisonous fruit of their labours is a lean, hard slab of grotesquery they should be proud of.

The songs on Remnants are all short, vicious and seeping corrosive sludge. The longest piece is final song “Do You Feel Safe?,” which clocks in at a hair over four minutes.


Most of the songs hover around the three-minute mark, which suits their sound perfectly. These tracks are all angry. While the exact tone of that anger varies — like the clatter of a machine gun versus the throatier roar of a Tommy gun — their perfect delivery is still in the form of short, controlled bursts.

Sarabante have an excellent structure to their sound. Their riffs are muscular and robust in their construction, and their songs have a strong melodic backbone. While there is no question about their violence, it’s an ordered one, a carefully constructed wall of noise, and all the more deadly for it.

The real power behind Sarabante, however, is the way they take this well-constructed skeleton and pollute it — this music is toxic. They take the basic armature of their songs and pile on distortion and dissonance, bile and sludge. Their sound is slathered in pitch — dirty and vile. It’s this quality that attracted the attention of Southern Lord, who are definitely branching out with the acquisition of the crust-/hardcore-influenced Sarabante while maintaining their penchant for sonic filthiness.

On one of those days that bring nothing but ill tidings, and hatred is seeping from clenched teeth, give Remnants a spin. Its toxicity and anger will suit the mood perfectly.

(released July 19, 2011 on Southern Lord Records)



Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.