(Old School Death Metal) Sororicide - The Entity - 1991, FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

ResidualCod (metal-archives.com) - 97%
It's gems like Sororicide's The Entity that make me the avid death metal junkie that I am. To the outsider, death metal may seem like it was a genre with no room for uniqueness or creativity, which is understandable considering how atrocious and generic it collectively has become, but those who care enough to dig into the genre and look for those albums that really stick out amongst the rest know what a great form of music it once was. The Entity is really one of those unqiue, stand out albums. It may be partially due to the fact that the band was from Iceland, so it is not like they had a lot of local influences to draw ideas from. They just played and wrote the way they naturally felt they should.
One of the things I really love about this album is the use of dissonance and the bizarre melodies and counter melodies sprinkled throughout. It really adds to the intensity of the slower sections. The riffing and song writing in general are just spectacular. The bass mostly follows along with the guitars, but sometimes will go off into its own dissonant riff while a discordant guitar melody is overlapping, which is another unique feature. The vocals are a gut-wrenching mid range growl and are just as powerful and eerie as everything else about this album. Everything is just perfect.
This album is a highly original and unique masterpiece. It is one of my all time favorite death metal albums. Highly, highly recommended.
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natrix (metal-archives.com) - 95%
I wasn't expecting this to kick as much ass as it does, as I was more curious as to what the farthest reaches of Scandinavia had to offer as far as vintage death metal. Surprisingly, this four piece from the windy city of Reykjavik churned out an original piece of death metal on this, their debut and swansong.
Okay, Iceland is part of Scandinavia, but it is pretty damn isolated from the rest of the world. You'd assume, however, that this would have some of the defining elements of Swedish death metal, or maybe Norweigian black metal, but Sororicide is something entirely different. Owe it to geographical isolation or whatever, but this band was a real breath of fresh air to a pretty jaded old school death metal fan like myself.
Their sound seems to be heavily influenced by early Immolation, with various squeals and dissonant guitar passages over a churning mass of ugly and dark riffs. Imagine Dawn of Possession, slowed down and less technical. I would almost say that there is an Unleashed influence in the relative simplicity of the songs, perhaps a Leprosy-era Death in the palm muted riffs, but Sororicide sounds nothing like Unleashed or Death. The absolute closest thing to which I can compare this would be The Chasm's debut album, Procreation of the Inner Temple, in terms of use of weird ideas, and production. But once again, it's NOT a clear comparison.
The vocals do recall a bit of Immolation, but perhaps with a touch of Kam Lee's inhuman roar. Very inhuman, dark, and nearly incomprehensible. I'm not sure if they're 100% natural, or are processed, but they're nice.
Clean guitars are employed here and there, serving to break up the constant wash of churning riffs. These are not sweeping melodic passages, but rather really desolate sounding, simple riffs. There are a few melodies, simple, dissodant chords that are picked in a simple manner, but to great effect. Each of these melodies is not your typical Gothenburg melancholy riff--it is dark, unholy, and the absolute most extreme expression of depression that one can hear on a metal album. Even the best black metal bands were not as effective at conveying a sense of despair, hopelessness and darkness.
The bass is...well, it's there. Somewhere behind the wall of heaviness. Nothing ventured, but honestly, for this music, there is something wonderful in its simplicity. He's no Steve Digiorgio, but luckily he's no Jeff Estes (Nocturnus) either.
Drums sound down tuned, kind of muddy and depressing. In other words, a perfect backbone to the other elements of the band. The drummer's not too technical either, and doesn't use a lot of fills, but throws in a few really strange beats. Listen to the main riff in "Blind," for one hell of a strange beat. A lot of times he uses the typical pitter-patter double bass that I so love in Candlemass, under the slow, pounding riffs. It's kind of the opposite of most death metal bands, where the guitars go warp speed and the drums are a bit slower. Here, the drums go double time to the guitar quite often.
Sororicide play it best at slow to midpaced, and not surprisingly, most of this album is composed of said material. In a few parts they pick it up to a galloping beat, even venturing into skank beats in a few key moments, but always with taste and skill. These guys knew where their skills lay, and played in those bounds. Still, I'm a guy who prefers more midpaced crunch to blazing speed (Krisiun bores me to death), so I relish this album quite a bit.
For probably being the only death metal band in Iceland at the time, it's no surprise that the production is pretty bad. Still, there is a certain charm in it, as it doesn't really destroy the worth of any of the instruments, and it adds to the dark feel of the album.
Then there's one really sore spot: the solos. When it comes to lead guitar, these guys don't know shit from shinola. Deicide did it better on their first album with those absolutely horrible, out of tune solos. On here, the same formula is reproduced; out of tune, manic and in general, a mess. Now, don't get me wrong, I LOVE insane soloing, especially when it sounds fucked up and even a bit out of place, but these lack a lot of power, either due to production or just being out of touch with their instruments. There is one solo moment where they almost sound like they're playing the lead break from Death's "Pull the Plug," but just horribly wrong. Luckily, this is a real minor problem when the rest of the album is so good.
So apart from the solos, there's nothing I dislike about this album. A shame that it is impossible to find, because it goes to show that there are some really unique pieces of death metal out there, still waiting in the shadows.
To sum it up: this is a thoroughly enjoyable album for fans of really heavy death metal played with originality and dark atmosphere. If you think you've heard it all, give Sororicide a chance. They play death metal with a dark atmosphere that no other band can create with a billion keyboards.

Gísli Sigmundsson - Bass, Vocals
Guðjón "Gaui" Óttarsson - Guitars
Karl Guðmundsson - Drums
Fróði Finnsson (R.I.P. 1995) - Guitars
Bogi Reynisson - Vocals