Steel for Brains

Sannhet - Known Flood

Brooklyn instrumental metal trio Sannhet are something of an enigma.  Their first full length, Known Flood, is an aural trek into the consciousness of all that is sacred to metal.  Percussion driven but never overwhelming – the album steers around audio samples, ominous sounds, and the undercurrent of a kind of seething introspection.  Much has been made about metal you can meditate to, and while much of that seems a little tongue-in-cheek, Known Flood is a damn near perfect soundtrack to what the mind might want to absorb in hopes of achieving some equilibrium of cognizance.  As the genre evolves it effectively becomes something beyond its origin – a point of musical evolution that almost always heralds a revolution in the way a sound is perceived by the listener. 

I’ve heard a few people describe Sannhet’s music as something along the lines of if Mogwai did black metal.  This comparison rings true and serves to remind that the metal genre, more than any other, is rapidly evolving to exciting states of being.  Sannhet’s music is incredibly tight yet not overproduced.  The conglomeration of those black metal auditory aesthetics mixed with the post-rock aesthetic might very well prove to be a tedious task for any other band, yet Sannhet make the marriage of these sounds natural.  Tracks like “Safe Passage” and “Endless Walls” are nothing less than gorgeous as John Refano threads his guitar through the cavernous walls carved by Christopher Todd (drums/samples) and AJ Annunziata (bass guitar). 

Sannhet belong to the newly found Sacrament Music – a record label founded by the fine gentleman who run the St. Vitus Bar in Brooklyn.  I suppose the greatest challenge for any upstart metal label would be to rise above the absolute monotony presented by scores of other labels who sign “different” bands who honestly sound no different than thirty other bands employing the same shtick.  If Sannhet is any indication of what Sacrament Music is offering, though, then I would venture to say the standard is being set.  Known Flood is immediately infectious and relentlessly gratifying, leaving little room to spare between the swelling crescendos and quiet rage on each track.  As the metal genre continually heads in the cerebral direction, Sannhet have made an indelible case to be one of its forerunners with Known Flood.

Known Flood is available for purchase here.  

Open your mind…

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