Wednesday, 20 April 2016

Sedulus - The Sleepers Awaken (Album Review)


Release date: April 22nd 2016. Label: When Planets Collide. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

The Sleepers Awaken – Tracklisting

1.Sycamore
2.Machinations
3.Nomadi Del Mare
4.Event Horizon
5.Things We Lost In The Fire
6.Colonise
7.Foxhole
8.Redshift
9.Heat Death

Band Members:

Will Wichanski - Bass & Vocals
Rich Williams - Guitar
Amit Patel - Guitar & BV's
Mithun Shah - Drums

Review:

After being a band for over a decade and releasing a few well received EP’s over the last few years, Sedulus are finally releasing their debut album – The Sleepers Awaken. As the title suggests Sedulus feel they have woken from a deep slumber to proclaim their place as one of the leading lights of the UK Sludge/Stoner Metal scene.

The Sleepers Awaken is a progressive Sludge/Stoner Metal journey that has shades of Taint and H A R K appearing at times. Opening track – Sycamore – is perhaps the standout track on the album as this allows Sedulus to create a heavy sludgy progressive feel with shades of psychedelic rock driving the superb vocals of lead vocalist Will to their natural conclusion. Sycamore has the potential to be a true crowd-pleaser when played live as it contains sublime memorable riffs that you will be humming in no time at all.

Second track – Machinations – carries on with the heavy sludge grove from Sycamore but with a heavier psychedelic style that allows the band to turn the volume up with their instruments. A blues rock vibe appears near the end of the song. Sedulus slow the mood right down with a slow-paced riff that allows their music to become very gloomy in places.

Third track – Nomadi Del Mare – is an instrumental track that sees the band in full on Sludge/Stoner Rock mood where the riffs are played at a slow pace before exploding into a more aggressive style of music. It has a cool psychedelic melody running through it as the band offer another one of the albums finest tracks.

Fourth track – Event Horizon – sees the band return to the world of heavy progressive sludge/stoner based riffs. This song reminds me of Welsh Prog Rockers Prosperina in some respects as it has a familiar vibe about them. Sedulus offer a darker and heavier style of music that gets the pulse racing. The vocals drift in and out at different times and the riffs become the main focus. There is a subtle doomy post-rock sound lurking in the background and it shows you how inventive and progressive Sedulus are with the delivery of the entire album.

Other great tracks to check out are: Colonise, Foxhole and Heat Death. All showing why Sedulus have created an exciting and thrilling that delivers on all levels. The production is intense through out as the crushing riffs has real volume and weight to give their sound a more dynamic range. The Sleepers Awaken is a bold, daring and highly complex album that should see Sedulus discovered by a wider audience. Believe the hype, these guys are the real deal.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Gareth at When Planet Collide for the promo. The Sleepers Awaken will be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl from When Planets Collide from April 22nd 2016. You can order the album from the links below or Sedulus BandCamp Page.

CD ONLY