Sorcia are a three piece unit from Seattle, Washington consisting of Neal De Atley (guitars/vocals), Jessica Brasch (bass/vocals) and Bryson Marcey (drums), the band released their first album "Sorcia" in 2020 just prior to the world closing down in response to the Covid pandemic. The ensuing lockdown meant the band had to abort any plans they had for touring their new album but it also meant they had time on their hands to write new songs ready for when the world finally opened up again. One of those songs took the form of a sixteen minute plus epic called "Death By Design" which the band released as an EP in 2021, the song was well received in all the right quarters with Outlaws of the Sun dubbing it " a must have release that leaves you wondering what musical avenues the band will go down for future releases" and Head-Banger Reviews calling it an EP that "delivers a performance that can’t be considered anything other than salivating". Of course Sorcia did not just write one song during their forced hiatus they wrote several and those songs are now seeing the light of day thanks to the release of their second full length album "Lost Season" (Desert Records), an album the band describe as a "continuance of their dynamic and heavy sound, yet showcases a matured evolution in style with a new exploration of influences" a statement we agree with and think you will too.
Discord and dissonance introduces opening track "Miss Anne Thrope" a delightfully dark dank number with a superb undulating vocal that regularly shifts between clean gothic crooning and harsh feral screaming over a groove that sways between proto and traditional doom and boasts some deliciously devilish lead work. "An Axe Named Otis" follows and and begins life at somewhat of a gallop with Marcey battering his drums into submission behind De Atley's crunching guitar riffs and Brasch's growling low bass, De Atley handles the verses for this song in tones harsh and throaty but is ably helped out by Brasch whose slightly studio echoed tones, in the songs middle section and its later call and response section, inject an ethereal quality into all the mayhem. "Faded Doom" finds Sorcia jamming a groove a little less extreme both musically and vocally to its predecessor , still gnarly and still dank and doomic but a touch less abrasive especially in its last quarter where things start to become decidedly bluesy. "Dusty" is up next and the "matured evolution" the band spoke of in their mission statement for this album is never more evident than on this absolute peach of a song, it is grungy, bluesy and sludgy in turns and exists in a place somewhere between a lament and a torch song without feeling the need to commit to either. Vocals are a mix of harmony and lead with De Atley shouldering the majority of the weight, the vocalist/guitarist slowly shifting his tones from an easy on the ear croon to a larynx shredding roar as the song progresses. Final number "Entering the Eighth House" is a low slow and heavy trudge through stoner doom territory that sees Brasch and De Atley sharing a similar vocal dynamic to the one they shared on "An Axe Named Otis" only with Brasch's ethereal tones getting a bigger piece of the vocal pie this time around.
Sorcia's "Lost Season" is everything the band wanted it to be, it resides in the same dynamical territory that informed their debut, it showcases the bands growing maturity as musicians and songwriters and it draws its influences from a wide musical palette, in fact it is a triumph on every level.
Check it out ....
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