SORCERER: Reverence (DOOM): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

Last September, Sorcerer offered as a digital single a re-reading of the legendary 'Gates Of Babylon' by Rainbow. Three other covers, from different bands, followed, each at a month interval. They are now gathered in the form of an EP, also only digital, by Metal Blade, which has sniffed out a good opportunity to make money without breaking the bank. What an imagination!

In addition to Rainbow, "Reverence" draws from the repertoire of Black Sabbath ('When Death Calls'), Saxon ('Crusader') and Ozzy Osbourne ('Waiting For Darkness'), a way for the Swedes to enjoy themselves by paying a fair tribute to their elders. It's also a way to pass the time when you're a musician and when there's a world health crisis that never ends. But what can be the interest of such an exercise, performed by a band, talented certainly, which unfortunately never dares to cover songs far from its own style? In fact, there are no surprises on a product whose content can be guessed without even having listened to it.

Sorcerer being what he is, a solid herald of an epic heavy doom, he fulfills these covers with the expected efficiency and dark lyricism. And if we are grateful to him for having chosen an obscure Black Sabbath track, this rereading of 'When Death Calls', which is pleasant by the way, reminds us that even with Tony Martin on vocals, the English dinosaur is impossible to match and that "Headless Cross" (1989) remains an album that is still too underestimated.

"Reverence" also underlines the fact that Rainbow is not easily accessible to the common man. A great singer, Anders Engberg is no Ronnie James Dio but he still delivers a seductive interpretation whereas the two guitarists, Kristian Niemann and Peter Hallgren, hardly compete with Ritchie Blackmore. Let's admit that these two covers, cast by the Scandinavians in the crucible of a solemn doom, seduce by their powerful and crepuscular emphasis. Crusader' and 'Waiting For Darkness' turn out to be less memorable because they are more honeyed without losing the usual efficiency of their interpreters.

Unpretentious but neat, "Reverence" is not to be taken for anything else than what it is, a nice aggregate of four covers whose original value makes them anyway very pleasant to savor, even if it would have been undoubtedly more interesting to see Sorcerer rubbing up against another register than the hard rock or the heavy. - Official website

SORCERER

REVERENCE

METAL BLADE RECORDS

DOOM