Sphere - Homo Hereticus Review

Rooted in a mix of old school and brutal death metal, Sphere are from Poland, often a country associated with promising death metal bands, and Sphere are no couch potato either. Twisting the very fabric of musicianship coupled with pure brutality, these gents hold dear much of their forefathers in musician’s terms have fought fro from relative obscurity. The links of Vader and Behemoth have helped somewhat, but it is more the former mixed with say Immolation’s speed and Deicide’s riffing precision that makes ‘Homo Hereticus’ a healthy buying option.

But, I really don’t like pig squealing vocals, this is mixed in certain quarters, this is a shame because for me there is no need for Sphere to do this, the music is brutal enough, especially the remainder of ‘Third Scent Carcass’. Double bass thunder and blast beat speed mixes with a few of your more expected death metal entities, groovy in places whilst infrequent pitched artificial harmonics give some atmosphere amongst its chaos. ‘Grave’s Cold Darkness’ has an old school feel, wonderfully groovy, powerful and the vocal delivery matches the speed changes from the drumming perfectly. There is a good balance between technicality and the arrangements that Sphere produce, it’s heart-warming not to hear a constant barrage of riffs, Sphere emphasis is on “songs”, very much a group product rather than individual headline opportunities. When you hear something like ‘Devils Reunion’ and the war machine that is ‘Beyond Madness of Gods’, this justifies just that little bit of excitement, a little wonder, but ‘Homo Hereticus’ is a solid effort and well worthy of your time and investment, every bit of ‘Homo Hereticus’ is competent and precise Death Metal.