One of the newer releases on Southern Lord is Remnants, the debut CD from Sarabante, a five piece aggressive thrash-core band from Athens, Greece. The band was brought to the attention of Southern Lord by Brad Boatright of From Ashes Rise and has a lot in common musically with bands like From Ashes Rise and Tragedy. Similar to these bands, Sarabante incorporates elements of d-beat crust and blackened gloom into their music.

There isn’t a lot of info about the band on the ‘net but, according to a blog entry posted by the band earlier this year, they took a long-term hiatus from the live stage and just started playing out again in advance of the release of this new eleven track/ 35 minute disc. Below is a live video from the band’s first live show in almost three years.



Sarabante pushes the thrash-core envelop with a cleaner sound than most of their contemporaries and songs that are long enough to grow and musically take root. The disc starts with dark keyboards and down-tuned guitars that sound like something from Candlelight Records' roster of bands before kicking into their pummeling metal attack. This isn’t all “speed blitzes” though as there is enough diversity in the band’s sound which keeps the music sounding fresh. One example is that the two guitarists slip in some melodic leads (which leads to a comparison to Neurosis) to complement their thrash attack and there is even an instrumental track on the disc.

This CD is limited to 1,000 machine numbered copies and is available through Southern Lord’s webstore for $10.

Sarabante is: Vagelis - Guitars/Vocals, Manos - Guitars, Aris - Vocals, Antonis - Bass, Markos - Drums

Links:
Sarabante