In a world of imminent global crisis, instant accessibility and shortened attention span, time is of the essence, perhaps more than ever before. The knock-on effects are felt even in musical reception; it can be a little daunting to put on a track that spans longer than five minutes. But if those tracks bring in catchy riffs, brutal vocals and moments of beauty, all of which don’t outstay their welcome then the time seems to fly by. This is what Toronto based post-metal four-piece Sarin have managed to achieve with their latest output. Six tracks, lasting just over 35 minutes of crushing riffs, which don’t ever seem to be drawn out or convoluted. Sign us up!
You Can’t Go Back, the band’s third full-length offering, and their first to be released via Prosthetic Records, opens with a crushing intensity that barely lets up throughout the rest of the record. The record kicks in to gear right off the bat with “Cold Open” where the guitars of David Wilson and Matt Dakers come in like an absolute sledgehammer. But rather than it being a pummelling assault there is a groove to the fuzzy guitars, which the more it repeats it feels comfortable and familiar. The sparing use of Wilson’s bellowing vocals really helps to put a focus on what Sarin do. This isn’t a band that draw out songs for the sake of it, everything feels methodically put together.
Even on their longer tracks, such as “When You Melt” the track is led by clever interplay between the guitars and the insanely heavy bass tone, before showcasing these more tender moments that the band offers up without even a bat of an eyelid. Ironically it is on the band’s shortest track “Otherness” where Sarin display what they are all about; with a very slow and gentle build, the song climbs to the crushing elements and is in and out in a shot. Not saying this is the direction the band needs to go, but this bite-sized sample is the band just showing off what they can do within constraint. If you find the world of post-metal a bit daunting, then Sarin are here to change your mind, with grooves and riffs aplenty.
You Can’t Go Back is out now via Prosthetic Records and can be ordered here.
Words: Tim Birkbeck
