German Christian death metal band Sacrificium has been around since the 90s, released their debut album in 2002, and have released 2 albums since then, with 2013s Prey for Your Gods being their last offering. And I say this because up until Oblivion, I had no idea these guys even existed- even in the Christian metal heyday of the early/mid-00s. its also the first release I have covered from Norway’s Christian metal, Nordic Mission label….so let’s get to it.

So, no matter what you think about Christian metal (I don’t care either way-I’ve been covering it for years) what we have here is some super competent modern melodic death metal that has some roots in early The Black Dahlia Murder, with just a little bit of a Swedish HM2 buzz to it. So it’s a nice change up from Christian metalcore/deathcore, which seems to be the prevalent genre for Christians to deliver their metal.

And if you are one of those closed-minded folks that do not want Christianity in their music, go to track number 4,  “Born Guilty” and tell me that isn’t a simply killer melodic death metal track, regardless of their convictions. Your loss.

The rest of the album is often just as good with a really good sense of songwriting that certainly leans heavily into The Black Dahlia‘s early Euro-inspired hack ‘n’ slash stylings, a hint of Amon Amarth (certainly vocally as well as some of the riffs, just listen to “Death From Within”) and as I said,  the production from guitarist Wolfgang Nillies has just a little bit of a Stockholm buzz. Not overbearing/retro Entrails, In Pain or Angerot hues, but latter-era Dismember, which plays into the slicing, solo-laden, melodic delivery pacing.

Other standouts include high octane openers “Annihilated” and “Martyrium”, as well as  “Eye for An Eye”, and closer “Written in My Scars”. And the album pretty well rips from start to finish other than a mid-album interlude in “Where All Prayers Fail”  some nice somber melodies in “Cohorts O O”, and a more restrained, moody start to “Death From Within”.

I’m new to Sacrificium, but they won’t be unfamiliar any longer as I dive into the rest of their past discography and look forward to a shorter wait for the next effort. Killer stuff.

[Visit the band's website]

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