Monday 23 July 2018

BEIRA - Vol II (Album Review)


Release date: July 13th 2018. Label: Transylvanian Tapes/Doom Stew Records. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

Vol II – Tracklisting

1.Circle 06:28
2.Black Monk 06:21
3.Sensei 07:39
4.Ancient Ones 07:04
5.Crone 06:16
6.Shine And Burn 08:11

Members

Kris Reynolds - Bass
A.J. Belluto - Drums/Vocals
Ruby Haynes - Guitar/Vocals

Review

BEIRA new album Vol II is a heavy stylized mix of Doom, Sludge and Stoner sounds. The whole album has a very raw and honest feel with the album feeling like it was recorded live or in a very short space of time. That's not a bad thing as BEIRA throw you straight into the action with the excellent opening song - The Circle.

The song has a very caustic approach for the first few minutes with the raw sounding clean vocals. Things take a very nasty turn when harsh/death vocals appear. This is where the album becomes heavier and more doom orientated. This was an unexpected turn of events as I was expecting BEIRA to keep up with the Punk/DIY sound they created on the earlier moments of the song. BEIRA even manage to include distorted moments of Heavy Psych Rock/Metal on this song.

The opening track is a good indication on what to expect for the other songs on the album. As they mostly follow the same route but BEIRA still manage to include different elements of music on certain parts of the album. Maybe the production could have done with more work and more volume added to the mix. As I did struggle hearing certain songs.

However this only happened a few times whilst listening to Vol II. The other songs on the album such as Black Monk, Sensei, Ancients Ones and Shine And Burn - offer a real menacing threat with their bombastic styles of Doom and Sludge Metal offset by brutal Hardcore/Death based growls. The instrumental work is what impresses the most as BEIRA manage to highly original riffs on their own unflinching and uncompromising terms.

Vol II won't be for everyone and is perhaps more suited for the more adventurous Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metal fan. The album really comes alive when the Apocalyptic sounding Post-Doom moments appear. If you’re fan of doom metal heavyweights such as CONAN then you will find much to enjoy here. Overall, Vol II is a very good album indeed and BEIRA prove they have a few tricks up their sleeves to scare even the most jaded of Doom/Sludge Metal fan into heavy submission.

Words by Steve Howe

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