SUMO - III (Album Review)

Release Date: December 13th 2024. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD

III - Track Listing:

1. Alyssa (5:50)

2. IPCRESS (5:40)

3. SETI3 (1:39)

4. Shadow of Antiope (5:10)

5. Eta Carinae (6:48)

6. Apophis (5:10)

7. SETI4 (0:47)

8. Cygnus (3:40)

9. Enceladus (6:44)

Members

Amado Ventura: Bass

Hector Mojena: Drums

Chris Salazar: Guitar

Review

Heavy Instrumental Space Rockers SUMO return with their third length album imaginatively titled “III” where the band continue their deep musical exploration into the far reaches of Post-Rock, Cosmic Rock, Shoegaze, Stoner Rock and Psych Rock sounds with a rich Progressive Rock flair appearing along the way. SUMO develop and orchestrate a rich Sludge Rock heavy direction which allows III to be superbly heavy when the time calls for this with sublime guitars that’s quite familiar for fans of music who follow the Florida Heavy Rock scene.

WIth inspiration from bands such as HUM, TORCHE, Pelican, Russian Circles, The Cure and Mogwai with SUMO creating a record that has an effortless amount of aggression, energy and melody combining for an action packed story that’s helped along by interesting choice of soundbytes and samples. The opening tracks of Alyssa and IPCRESS both skate around the dynamics of technicalities of Post Rock before joining creative forces with other areas of music for a sound that’s both tranquil and destructive with a gloomy sense of Space Rock melodies becoming quite cold hearted in places but always wholly original.

SUMO delivers haunting Ambient sounds and synths along the way which gives a Drone based quality on the experimental parts of the album. This appears in the most unexpected of places before SUMO delves into another area of music which feels like the song remains unopened and unanswered but maybe that's the point in certain cases especially with tracks such as IPCRESS and SETI3. That’s one of the highlights of the album with III not offering all the available answers and allowing the listener to draw up their own conclusions.

The album can also be quite uplifting which you’ll experience within the opening moments of the standout fourth track Shadow Of Antiope. There are echoes of Pelican and TORCHE running throughout this track but SUMO are still in full driving control with the excellent use of soundclips adding to the creative narrative of the story. The stop/start sludgy guitars have a slight Electro Rock beat to them with a subtle Psych Rock flavour keeping everything grounded.

SUMO opt for a cerebral style of Post-Rock with a Post-Doom outlook that becomes dominated by a Progressive Rock vibe which fully takes effect across tracks such as: Eta Carinae, Apophis and Enceladus that offer the perfect and winning combination of abstract extended instrumental jams with a free flowing CINEMATIC ROCK attitude. 

SUMO have teamup with ex-TORCHE bassist Jonathan Nuñez who recorded, mixed and co-produced the album and I’m becoming a huge fan of Jonathan’s studio work thanks to his recent collaborations with ORBITER and RESTLESS SPIRIT. Jonathan works wonders yet again here but allowing SUMO the chance to develop their own fascinating and brilliantly heavy sound that ultimately leaves you wanting to hear more.

III is a grand musical adventure from SUMO that masters the fine art of blending Post-Rock harmonies with the heavier and aggressive moments of Doom, Sludge, Stoner and everything else in between. THis allows III to be ranked as one of the standout instrumental records of the year.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Good Boy PR for the promo.

III will be available to buy on Digital Download from Friday 13th December 2024.

Links

Official | Bandcamp | Instagram | Facebook 

Hiraeth - Chronic Temple (Album Review)

Release Date: November 29th 2024. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD

Chronic Temple - Track Listing:

1.Chronic Temple 01:55

2.Bongstaff 06:19

3.Doom Dragon 04:39

4.Montevallo 03:02

5.Sea People 03:19

6.Country Bumpkin 00:40

7.Ache 03:13

8.Loss & Reconciliation 03:46

9.Stoner's Theme 06:30

10.Climb The Lonely Mountain 00:57

11.Obsidian Sun 05:38

12.Farewell... My Apprentice 00:43

Review

Chronic Temple is the debut album from Doom/Sludge Metallers Hiraeth who add a spicy mix of Southern Metal and Groove oriented sounds to the album. The record starts off quietly and cautiously within the title track being a slowly played instrumental Post-Doom number that manifests into a heavier sound within the stunning second track of Bongstaff.

There’s a vicious style of Death Metal vocals appearing that sees Hiraeth transforming into a more extreme style of Sludge Metal that’s powered with an Occult sense of Southern Metal. The gloomy atmospherics remain part of the LOW & SLOW environment with the down tuned guitars and sludgy instrumental beats that can be quite “TINNY” and “HOLLOW” at times. However, this gives Chronic Temple quite an abrasive and violent nature which feels like a cross between EYEHATEGOD and CHURCH OF MISERY at times.

Hiraeth are perhaps best described to be part of the Death/Doom Metal scene overall especially on the longer tracks on the album. There’s a few tracks that last under a minute where the band primarily deal in low-key instrumental gloomy passages. Hiraeth aren’t afraid to add elements of slowly played Grind channels into their music which offers a nihilistic vision that the casual listener may not be expecting especially on tracks such as: Doom Dragon, Sea People, Loss & Reconciliation, Stoner’s Theme and Obsidian Sun. 

The vocals can be quite hard to understand at times and even I struggled with the lyrics but I’ve never been the best at understanding this style of vocal delivery. However, Hiraeth played to their absolute creative strengths on this record with a fine amount of heavy destructive grooves being played across a more extreme Death/Doom Metal platform with some hidden Sludgy surroundings. 

There’s a bleakly wicked sense of pitch black humour which is perhaps inspired by the likes of WEEDEATER and BONGZILLA in places especially on the more WEEDIAN sounding parts of the album. The record isn’t the best produced but keeps in line with the murky, seedy and violent visions that Hiraeth have expertly laid down for the whole album.

Chronic Temple is a catchy and deeply fascinating record which should keep you superbly entertained from start to finish.

Words by Steve Howe

Links

LinkTree | BandCamp

Tombgrown - Sirius (Album Review)

Release Date: November 29th 2024. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD

Sirius - Track Listing:

1.Battle Scars 05:34

2.Ruins 05:28

3.Rebirth In Silence 05:17

4.Sirius 04:25

5.Burial Blight 05:05

6.Rootfeeder 10:03

7.Gravel Path (Remastered) 05:31

Members

Ludwig Walter - Bass

Johannes Ludwig - Drums

Florian Haunsperger - Guitars

Elodie Dosser - Vocals

Review

German Doom Metallers Tombgrown debut album Sirius opts for a gloomy creative temperament with the band playing a slightly heavier and aggressive style of Post-Doom with flashes of menacing Stoner Metal appearing which can be quite Proto-Metal leaning at times. The sound has an emotional quality which reminds me of Windhand and Pallbearer in places especially with the lyrics and the absolute intense vocals from lead vocalist Elodie Dosser. 

With a down-tuned atmosphere and with a terrific Post-Metal vibe appearing within the heavier sludgier grooves that comes straight into the forefront of Tombgrown’s music especially on the excellent two opening tracks of Battle Scars and Ruins. The sound can be quite raw sounding which allows the album to have a stripped back LIVE GIG feeling that is quite intense within the more melodramatic Post-Doom sounds that holds everything together. 

With a cautious attitude appearing within the quieter moments before Tombgrown unleash their own highly inventive style of stripped back FUZZ METAL passages that bridges the gap between the Doom and Stoner environments that have a different contrast to each other.

Sirius is quite a poetic album with Elodie’s stunning vocal performance that have a sublime Alt Rock/Metal quality to them but things turn quite sinister when Elodie’s vocals transform into a demonic and violent style within the standout third track Rebirth In Silence. The music is deliberately slow paced with Tombgrown branching out into more dramatic styles of DOOM & GLOOM with a subtle Psychedelic quality slowly weaving through into the darkness. The sound once again stripped back to its core essence of mighty downtuned aggression becomes more commonplace within the album as time passes by.

Tombgrown become more adventurous with their music on the later stages across tracks such as: Sirius, Burial Blight and Rootfeeder. The sound becomes shrouded in Post-Metal and Sludge Metal mystery with a classic style of LOW & SLOW and AMPLIFIER DISTORTION developing which allows Sirius to create some epic slices of METALLIC and PROTO-DOOM aggression to pulverize your hearing with.

Sirius is quite an edgy and unsettling portrayal of modern day Doom/Stoner Metal that could allow Tombgrown to make quite a name for themselves within the underground scene. If you’re a dedicated follower of bands of Pallbearer, Windhand, Saint Vitus, Black Sabbath and YOB then Tombgrown will speak volumes to you. This a brooding and unforgiving record that oozes CLASS from every level.

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

Links

Facebook | BandCamp