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Blog Categories Review Sophist - Avenger… Liberator... - Reviewed By occultblackmetalzine!

Sophist - Avenger… Liberator... - Reviewed By occultblackmetalzine! Tuesday May 16 2023, 7:42 PM

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Sophist - Avenger… Liberator... - Reviewed By occultblackmetalzine ! Check it out here at this link: https://occultblackmetalzine.blogspot.com/2023/03/sophistavengerliberator2023-ep-review.html

Edmonton. Alberta, Canada's Sophist has returned with a new recording which shows the music going for a mixture of black, death metal and grindcore with some elements of thrash, speed metal, industrial and electronic music and this is a review of their self released 2023 ep "Avenger...Liberator" which will be released in April.

A very fast and r aw sound starts off the ep along with a great amount of tremolo picking and blast b eats. The faster sections of the songs also add in the brutality of grindcore while t he riffs also add in a decent amount of melody as well as the vocals being a mixture of black metal screams and death metal growls.

Most of the tracks are also very short in length while the songs also add in a decent mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts. Industrial and electronic music sounds are also mixed in with the heavier sections of the songs at times along with the solos and leads also being done in a very melodic style when they are utilized and some of the riffing also brings in elements of thrash and speed metal, synths can also be heard briefly.

On this recording Sophist mix influences of death, thrash, speed metal, industrial and electronic music into their mixture of black metal and grindcore to create something different from previous releases. The production sounds very dark and raw while the lyrics cover working class politics.

In my opinion this is another great sounding recording from Sophist and if you are a fan of black, death metal and grindcore, you should check out this ep. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Rigid Ideology" and "Stochastic Masochism". 8 out of 10. occultblackmetalzine

Release Date:
March 24th (Bandcamp exclusive + Youtube full album stream)
April 28, 2023 (Official release for all streaming platforms)

FFO: Napalm Death, Anaal Nathrakh, Mayhem

Location: Edmonton, Canada

Sophistry – noun – the use of clever but false arguments, especially to deceive.
There is no deceiving with Edmonton, Canada’s Sophist, however, the trio of Michael K. Sparks (bass/guitar), Davis R. Hay (programming/vocals), Helge Lipphardt (guitar) are straightforward in their approach to grinding black and death metal.

Conjured in June of 2019 by Hay and Sparks, Sophist dove straight into recording their debut EP “Betrothal To The Stone: Conception of Mephisto”. Immediately after release, they started production on a follow-up record and recruited Lipphardt for additional guitars and writing input.

The trio keeps the writing process simple, with Hay defining the drums, synths, and song structure followed by Lipphardt and Sparks’ overlay of bass and guitar. Hay's pessimistic lyrics at first focussed on occult themes, alchemical allegory, and nihilism, but more recently on working-class politics. Sophist transmutes these elements into blisteringly fast & flavorful "black grind".

In November 2019 Sophist signed with Niflhel Records to release their first full-length album, “Dissolution”, which was released on February 7th, 2020 on CD, LP, and all digital platforms. A follow-up album, "Putrid Faction", was released on December 1st, 2020, which saw more death metal in the sound. A single called “Metabolic Chasm…” was released in 2021 with Tsunami Nagasaki (Beaver Fever) on bass and guitar as a guest and Hay on vocals and additional guitar.

Now Sophist is preparing to release a new EP, “Avenger… Liberator…” on April 28, 2023, with an early release exclusive to Bandcamp on March 24th. "Avenger... Liberator..." sees more death metal added to the sound and a greater emphasis on industrial/electronic elements, and even some aspects of thrash and speed metal.

Check out the videos!