Bevar Sea - The Timeless Zone (Album Review)

Release Date: February 04th 2022. Record Label: Metal Assault Records. Format: CD/DD

The Timeless Zone  - Tracklisting

The Timeless Zone

Alpha None

Sterilise The Divide

The Circle

Kiss The Sigh

Cadaver Awake

Review

Bevar Sea return after a five year absence with their new album The Timeless Zone. An album that sees the band expand on their fantastic Doom/Stoner Metal sound by adding themes of Heavy Metal, Psych Rock and Prog Rock. The record is stylishly made with Bevar Sea focusing more on classic Heavy Metal than modern day Doom/Stoner Metal and there’s a lot of that stuff around on the album.

Opening song The Timeless Zone runs past the 8:30 minute mark with Bevar Sea bringing a more refined style of music compared to their previous releases. The music is quite an entertaining spectacle of different styles that Bevar Sea haven’t tried before. Switching between Heavy Metal and strands of Doom/Stoner Metal gives this album a feeling of Prog Metal. There’s a high amount of different guitar grooves being played at once. Sure it can be too flashy at times but when the music is this good its best not to argue and go for the ride. If you’re looking for an addictive 80's Heavy Metal style with modern day Doom/Stoner Metal grooves with a menacing vocal presence then Bevar Sea have you covered. 

The album carries on this style of music for the rest of the album with five more songs to impress you with. Bevar Sea takes the best grooves and riffs from the last forty years of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal with a modern day Doom/Stoner Metal makeover. 

Standout songs are: The Timeless Zone, Alpha None, Sterilise The Divide and Cadaver Awake. The majority of the songs run between six to nine minutes in length with each song having different styles of music to keep the whole atmosphere wildly entertaining and wholly original in some cases. The final two songs Kiss The Sigh and Cadaver Awake are perhaps the most hard-hitting and heaviest tracks on the record that some listeners will consider the best part of the album.

India doesn’t have a major presence within the Doom/Stoner Metal scene and it’s great to see Bevar Sea flying the flag and making major creative strides themselves from their previous two albums. The Timeless Zone is their most mature and accomplished release to date.

Overall, The Timeless Zone is an exceptionally produced and superbly made record that has wider appeal to other factions of the Hard Rock/Heavy Metal community and not just the Doom/Stoner Metal community. A must have record. End Of.

Words by Steve Howe

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Bevar Sea Announce new album; releases new track and video

Bangalore's Bevar Sea is back and announces new album; releases new track and video after long break

Five years after releasing their sophomore album ‘Invoke the Bizarre', Bangalore’s Bevar Sea used the Covid-19 imposed lockdown as an opportunity to regroup and start working on the third album titled ‘The Timeless Zone’. With the backdrop of the lyrics portraying a tryst with the consciousness of man, storying into travels and visions within the self, the music on this song and over the course of the album, pays homage to the glory years of the 70s and 80s hard rock and metal with the typical rifftastic stoner/doom sound the band has embraced on the two albums prior to this.

The first single and title track "The Timeless Zone" will be released on April 30th along with a video for the track on all major streaming platforms. more details on the upcoming album will be released in the near future.

A teaser clip can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/6Q3AWie-PTM

Bevar Sea adds: "The Timeless Zone, the song and the album, continues our approach of playing stoner doom music while being even more loyal to our hard rock and metal roots than before. Every band member had to step up and learn how to record themselves and work via email for arrangements, demos, and finally turn up one by one to record. This album is us embracing the 2021 way of making music while also being busy working from home, taking care of our families, and just dying to be able to play this new music to our fans live some day."

With their beginnings in 2008, the band roared into the live scene in 2011, and in the following year their eponymous album ‘Bevar Sea’ was released, which earned them the "Best Emerging Act" at the Rolling Stone Metal Awards India and a slot in the coveted Maryland Deathfest in 2013 and rave reviews worldwide. 

Mixed and mastered by the legendary Billy Anderson, the album was regarded highly for their 45-min hook-laden stoner/doom experience by fans and quickly garnered the band a firm reputation in their country and internationally. 

The fan favourite (Abishtu) which narrates the tale of a serial killer out for hipster blood and on the run from the law became a permanent chant by fans whenever they stepped on stage, while the 14-min ‘Mono Gnome’ about a short statured man and his love for a witch closed the album and turned out to be the pick in the doom circles with their reefer-pleasing, ‘Sleep’– esque flow of slow riffing and raspy vocals. 

Bevar Sea followed up their debut release with ‘Invoke the Bizarre’ in 2015. Drifting into new sonic territories, the band crafted a sinister mood for their audience in the first three tracks ‘Bearded and Bizarre’, ‘Bury me in Nola’, and ‘Sleeping Pool’ which boasted hooks over neck-twisting grooves, the down-tempo chug of the guitars and soaring lead guitars. With the vocal melody chanting ‘Look to the Sky’, the band closed the album with the epic ‘The Grand Alignment’ which comprised of a sublime cascade of riffs, solos, bass lines and vocal hooks. 

Recorded at a breakneck pace over 10 days at Adarsh Recording Studio and mixed and mastered by Matt Lynch (LA's Mysterious Mammal Recording, also from the incredible band Snail), ‘Invoke the Bizarre’ was well received by the press and fans alike for their intricate song arrangements, unique story-telling, mature and well-rounded performances.

The Timeless Zone lineup (2021):

Ganesh Krishnaswamy - Vocals
Srikanth Panaman - Guitars
Michael Talreja - Guitars
Avinash Ramchander - Bass

For Fans Of :
Black Sabbath, Spiritual Beggars, Trouble, Cathedral, Orange Goblin, Sleep, Motorhead

Connect with Bevar Sea:

bevarsea.bandcamp.com
fb.com/bevarsea
instagram.com/bevarsea
youtube.com/bevarsea

Bevar Sea - Invoke The Bizarre (Album Review)

Release date: Sept 25^th 2015 (India)/October 31^st 2015 (Elsewhere). Label: Self Released. Formats: CD/DD

Invoke The Bizarre: Tracklisting 

1.Bearded and Bizarre
2.Bury Me in NOLA
3.Sleeping Pool
4.Where There's Smoke (There is a Pyre)
5.Heathen
6.The Grand Alignment

Band Members: 

Ganesh Krishnaswamy - Vocals, lyrics
Srikanth Panaman - Guitars, music
Rahul Chacko - Guitars, artwork
Avinash Ramchander - Bass
Deepak Raghu – Drums 

Review:

Indian Stoner/Doom Metal band Bevar Sea – made one heck of an impression back in 2012 when they released their debut album. Bevar Sea’s style of Sabbath based Doom mixed with elements of Kyuss inspired Stoner Metal made them a band to look out for. Now it’s time for Bevar Sea to return with their new album – Invoke The Bizarre. And it’s quite a different sound to their debut album as Bevar Sea opts for a doomier and thrashier style of sound. It’s still Stoner Metal places but you’ll be surprised to hear Bevar Sea playing heavier and faster paced riffs.

Opening track – Bearded And Bizarre – is a dirty sounding song that sees Bevar Sea unleashing the heavy epic riffs from the start. Parts Doom, Stoner and Thrash with a dark psychedelic atmosphere that allows lead vocalist Ganesh to display his impressive vocal range. It’s a great mixture of slower and faster paced riffs all for your musical entertainment.

Second track – Bury Me In NOLA – is Bevar Sea’s love letter to the legendary NOLA Sludge Scene and they do the NOLA scene proud with an epic murky tale covered in Doomy/Stoner filled Sludge Metal. Ganesh offers a thrashier approach to his vocals and it’s very powerful indeed. Bevar Sea are a more powerful band to listen to when they decide to play faster riffs as they unleash the heaviest moments on the album.

Third track – Sleeping Pool – is a 10:14 minute slice of progressive doom/stoner metal with the seedy atmosphere starting to gain momentum. The music drifts from slow-paced to the heavier fast-paced style of sounds. Sleeping Pool sees Bevar Sea drift further and further into the doomy abyss of dark riffs. When the Stoner Metal vibes do appear, they’re drowned out by Ganesh’s creepy vocals. This is perhaps the best song on the album as it sums what Bevar Sea are all about now. Doom and Gloom inspired based madness!!!

The second half of the album follows the same dark and twisted path of the opening three tracks. Fourth track – Where There’s Smoke (There’s A Pyre) is a great style of Blues, Doom, Stoner and Thrash with Ganesh giving his doomy vocals a rest for a more restrained performance for the first half of the song. That’s not to say he’s quiet, far from it. He’s angry as heck. On the second half Ganesh returns to his heavier and harsher style of vocals. I have to say the rest of the band are the main stars on this song as they put in a truly commanding performance especially during the thrashier based moments.

Fifth song – Heathen – is a short paced 90 second song with the band in mellow acoustic mood. It’s quite a soothing song and it’s a good contrast to the other songs on the album. Fans of Ancient Vvisdom will find much to admire here as it has a similar acoustic occult/doom rock vibe.

The final song on the album is – The Grand Alignment – is perhaps the most doomy and heaviest song on the album as Bevar Sea go with a band. The music is superb from start to finish with Ganesh paying homage to his favourite Metal vocalists such as Ozzy Osborne and Ronnie James Dio. It lasts for 11 mins and there’s a ton of great riffs for you to enjoy and admire.

Invoke The Bizarre is a much better and well rounded experience than their debut album. Bevar Sea are a different band from a few years ago. They’re more brash, confident and slightly scarier as well. This album is going to go down a storm with the Doom/Stoner Metal crowd and I have a feeling that the Old-School Heavy Metal crowd will dig this too. Invoke The Bizarre is a superb album from one of India’s Premier Metal Bands. Check it out. You’ll be a fool to miss this. 

Words by Steve Howe 

Thanks to Bevar Sea and Clawhammer PR for the promo. Invoke The Bizarre is out in India on Sept 25th 2015 and Oct 31st 2015 elsewhere on CD/DD.

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