Band:	Sarsekim
Album:	Paroxysm
Style:	Death metal
Release date:	May 2005

01. With Absence Of Warning
02. The Fall Of Zedekiah

"Paroxysm" is the second demo of the Aussie technical thrash death metal band Sarsekim. As you can imagine, it's the first time I hear of them. As you probably don't imagine, I am mostly impressed by what these young austral metallers bestow upon us. Technical melodic thrash death metal it is, and of the best type.

"Paroxysm" is actually quite hard to define because it borrows to pretty much all the different subgenres of death metal. That is, it sometimes can remind of the Gods of technicality (i.e. Atheist), then the minute after like Behemoth meets Dark Tranquillity. But the odd thing is that it actually doesn't REALLY sound like these bands. There's hardly anything in "Paroxysm" that can be accused of ripping off famous bands. The greatest quality of Sarsekim is to be able to gather influences from everywhere and mould them into their distinctive sound.

"Paroxysm" hardly clocks above 12 minutes, and still it is sufficient for the band to display their whole technical range. The songwriting is brilliant, I can't count the number of breaks, solos, twists and turns and changes between death or thrash riffing. Yet although complex, Sarsekim manage to keep their music clean, comprehensible and appealing to almost anybody, into extreme metal or not. The vocals are good and the production is quite amazing for such a record. The two tracks presented on this demo feature some really promising and/or mind-blowing moment, be it the hysterical violence à la Darkane of "With Absence Of Warning" or the acoustic ending of "The Fall Of Zedekiah".

In the end, this is some truly impressive and professional work. Sarsekim might well be the next big thing in the genre. They sound talented enough to succeed. Anyway, this is for all the fans of technical, melodic and extreme music. In other words, this is for everybody.

Highlights: both tracks are interesting.