The 1980 Listening Post - Sarcofagus - Cycle of Life

 Reviewed by Jim Coursey

Released: 1980 Sarcofagus Cycle Of Life Genre: Prog Metal Rating: 1 out of 5 “The band's front-man Kimmo Kuusniemi stated in the documentary film Promised Land Of Heavy Metal that Finland in the early 1980s was not prepared for heavy metal.” [1] If this is heavy metal, the Listening Post in the 2020s is not prepared for it either. And if there ever comes a post-apocalyptic day where all music is lost but for a pristine copy of this album, those left to hear it will likely decide that music wasn’t really worth all the fuss anyways and get back to foraging for scrap metal. Vocals: Is this even in English? Maybe? Whatever it is makes Damo Suzuki sound like an English diction coach. Worse, Kimmo Kuusniemi can’t keep a tune so starting with the first track they sent him to the bottom of a deep chasm in hopes that would improve matters. (“At the very least we don’t have to look at him,” confirmed the guitarist.) They do give him bathroom breaks, such as on “Back to Black,” though the section at 2:25 might be more appropriate for a potty training book than at a dinner party, unless you are in a Bunuel film. [2] Instruments: they avoided the chasm, but it sounds like the drum kit is spread arbitrarily across the room, while the guitarist is sometimes jammed up in your face (especially in the aptly titled “Here I Am”). Mix engineers use the term “glue” to denote a compressor or other processor which makes all a song’s disparate elements have gelled. Well, Sarcofagus missed that day in class. Then again, the performances vary from barely passable attempts at prog rock to Legion of Rock Stars level of cohesion though, [3] so maybe the problem was more existential. I dare not add these as highlights, but they jammed a couple tracks to the end that are almost passable: straight-ahead rocker “Feed Me,” D&D psych folk “Hermit.” Maybe they should have skipped the prog and stuck with something they could play? But fear not, final track “You’re Talking Too Much” resumes the shitshow that defines the rest of the album. ********** 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcofagus 2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1Mptgi23YE&t=68s 3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWkXczs1Tak&t=84s