New York City based SARMAT introduced themselves to metal audiences with the intoxicating "Dubious Disk" live EP, which showcased their extreme metal and jazz influence as well as their creative prowess. This blending of dissonant, progressive, and improvisational elements foreshadowed the group’s expressive possibilities as they push sonic boundaries with their progressive sci-fi metal. Their debut full length, “Determined to Strike” shows a fiercer and more extreme side. The progressive tech death metal soul of SARMAT is here combined with dizzying jazz fusion scores, to deliver an enthralling and magmatic album to which Colin Marston's mastering work gives dynamic and powerful sounds.
Convulsing guitars, devastating drums and Steve Blanco’s (IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT) thunderous bass and elegant piano notes move in unison; the sound itself is like overwhelming and unspeakable horror… Pure cosmic chaos! If this disconcerting hybrid between DEFEATED SANITY and WEATHER REPORT weren't enough to jeopardize the listener's sanity, the coup de grace comes from the vocalist who is author of a capital performance that alternates scratching screams and death grunts. Not to mention the contribution of a handful of inspired guest musicians such as Cameron Carella and Jerome Burns on trumpet, Ed Rosenberg III (KILTER) on soprano and bass saxophone and Matt Hollenberg (CLERIC) on guitar. These allied combatants add incredible sonic depth to what is already an aural assault on the senses.
SARMAT is ever evolving and “Determined to Strike” is merely phase 1 in a 3 part conceptual cycle which weaves together music, lyrics and textures. The title represents the band's resolve to complete the album despite all of the impositions on artists by the events of the early 2020s. The conflict is interstellar and the adventure begins here.