There is no stopping the mighty Sorcerer and in the autumn of 2023 the band will release their highly anticipated fourth album entitled Reign Of The Reaper. Again not content with repeating themselves the album features some of the darkest, heaviest and most aggressive material the band has ever recorded, and at the same time some of the most lyrical and beautiful.
For a first preview of the album, a video (directed by Daniel Wahlström @ Heavy Groove Media) for the opening track Morning Star can be viewed at: metalblade.com/sorcerer – where ‘Reign Of The Reaper’ can also be pre-ordered in the following formats: – Deluxe Digipak-CD incl. bonus-CD ‘Reverence’ / – Deluxe 2-LP incl. bonus-LP ‘Reverence’ (limited to 500 copies) / – 180g black vinyl / – dark violet marbled vinyl (limited to 1.000 copies) / – smoke vinyl (limited to 300 copies) / – silver blackdust vinyl (limited to 300 copies)
Since their rebirth in 2010, through a string of amazing live performances, signing to Metal Blade Records and releasing three excellent metal albums, Sorcerer have been firing on all cylinders with no plans of stopping for anyone.
In The Shadow Of The Inverted Cross (2015) put everything into motion; with its classic epic doom metal approach it solidified Sorcerer‘s triumphant return to the scene. The follow-up, 2017’s The Crowning Of The Fire King, gave fans that extra dose of Epic they craved, while also allowing the band to begin to reform and reshape their sound and direction. It was here that Sorcerer really laid the foundation on which they are still building – making heavy, melodic metal with crushing riffs, soaring vocals and hook-laden choruses.
2020 saw the band release what would be their most elaborate album to date, the concept album Lamenting Of The Innocent. This record allowed the band to test new waters with more elaborate, intricate songwriting, longer song forms and it features vocalist Anders Engberg at his absolute finest. The album was highly praised, and very well received, and has allowed the band to grace the stages of some of the most prestigious metal festivals and venues around the world.
For Reign Of The Reaper the band holed up in their home studios and wrote music all through 2022 and then once again headed to SolnaSound Recording in Stockholm, the studio owned, run and operated by Simon Johansson (Wolf, Soilwork) with Mike Wead (King Diamond) assisting, to record the drums. Sorcerer likes to work with a small, tried and trusted team so therefore they once again employed the services of Ronnie Björnström (engineering/mixing/ mastering) and Jani Stefanovic (cover art for the singles & artwork booklet/packaging design); these guys have been working with the band since the first album and as per usual they delivered superbly. The striking album cover artwork was created by Swedish artist Joakim Ericsson. Conny Welén as usual handled co-production duties. Anders says: “He has been working with us since 2015 and the reunion album In The Shadow Of The Inverted Cross. Connys contribution to our sound is heard in every song; he is involved in the arrangements and plays all keyboards”. He also co-writes the vocal melodies and the foundations of some of the lyrics and on top of this he also recorded Anders’ vocals in his studio. Photographer Marieke Verschuren provided the awesome band photos as she also did on the previous album.
For the opening track and first single ‘Morning Star’, based on the fall of Lucifer, the band showcases their proficiency in fusing classic metal with other heavy elements with quite a few twists and turns along the way. With a bombastic rhythm section spear-headed by Evensand and Biggs, to the melodic and brilliantly executed guitar work of Niemann and Hallgren, culminating with the ferocious Engberg, whose voice soars, ‘Morning Star’ takes the listener on a relentless journey through the kingdom of Pandemonium and hell itself. Kristian says: “I came up with the majestic opening guitar line while I was in the gym, I remember that distinctly. I grabbed my phone and sang the line into the voice recorder, as I always do when I get ideas. I didn’t think much of it and promptly forgot all about it until it was time to write songs for the album. I had about 150 riffs and ideas that I went through and this one immediately grabbed my attention. I’m super-happy with this track and it sounds exactly how I envisioned it when I first started working on it. The guys in the band KILLED it, everybody played and sang their asses off”.
Reign Of The Reaper will be released on the 27th of October by Metal Blade Records and features eight brand new tracks guaranteed to appease the appetites of metal heads from all sides of the Heavy Metal spectrum.
Track listing: 01. Morning Star 02. Reign of the Reaper 03. Thy Kingdom Will Come 04. Eternal Sleep 05. Curse of Medusa 06. Unveiling Blasphemy 07. The Underworld 08. Break of Dawn
Sorcerer line-up: Anders Engberg – vocals / Kristian Niemann – guitars, backing vocals / Peter Hallgren – guitars, backing vocals / Justin Biggs – bass, growls / Richard Evensand – drums
Since recording the album drummer Richard Evensand has left the band and been replaced by Stefan Norgren.
