Cegvera - The Sixth Glare (Album Review)

Release date: March 06^th 2020. Label: Stolen Body Records (CD/DD/Vinyl) & LSDR (CD) Records.

The Sixth Glare - Tracklisting

1.Infection

2.Incubation

3.Prodromal

4.Convalescence 04:52

5.The Great Blackout

6.After the Thaw

7.The Sixth Glare

8.Red Swarm Beyond 05:51

9.Vermivora bachmanii

Members

Gerardo Arias (Guitar)
Matt Neicho (Drums)

Review

The Sixth Glare is the new album from Post-Doom/Sludge Metal Instrumentalists – Cegvera – and is easily their most ambitious and creative album to date. The album is a concept album that tells the following story

‘The Sixth Glare’ is a reference to the environmental crisis that we are living through today and the anthropogenic extinction events that are referred by world-renowned scientists as ‘the Sixth Mass Extinction’.

“The Sixth Glare stands as a conversation that needs to take place. The world is in danger of killing itself. You will find this subject embodied from the smallest scratch of the artwork (Hellbound Graphics, México) to the last second of the final track. The scene is actually set as precursor to Vinnum Sabbathi’s upcoming album ‘Of Dimensions and Theories’ (also to be released this year via SBR) which Gerardo plays drums on.”

This album may have come out at right time or wrong time depending on your point of view.

The album is quite a dark, complex and unforgiving journey into the darker side of Instrumental Post-Doom/Sludge Metal and Cegvera never shy away playing heavy grooves on this album. Taking cues from Pelican and Neurosis on this album Cegvera successfully navigate their way round through the many different styles of Doom/Sludge/Post-Metal they include on this album.

Opening song – Infection – opens with a quiet Ambient/Post-Rock vibe which stays that style of music for the next ninety seconds. Though, be prepared of a heavier and more threatening style of music from here on in.

Second song – Incubation – offers a more nightmarish style of music that we haven’t really heard from Cegvera and it’s an uncompromising blend of current topical themes that leave you unsettled in places. Though, it’s the music that we are here for and the remedy is loud and aggressive Sludge based sounds from start to finish. Swirling ambient sound effects add another layer of real life theatrics that just add to the overall gloominess of the album.

Third song – Prodromal – carries on the bleak and apocalyptic style of music with an Ambient Post-Rock sound that takes quite a while to fully get moving but the different textures of the album soon build up to a more violent and progressive style of Post-Rock/Post-Metal. This is one of the standout songs on the album with Cegvera excelling in creating a cold hearted look at the world especially with the soundclips that the band cleverly use within the structure of the song.

Fourth song – Convalescence – has a more subdued Psychedelic Post-Rock vibe and Cegvera create a more relaxed mood for the first few moments of the song and this reminds me of early-Pelican in so many ways. Mainly how the song moves quietly onto a more emotional and distant level whilst still being firmly in the realm of Post-Rock/Post-Metal.

As you can tell by the following song titles - The Great Blackout, After The Thaw, The Sixth Glare, Red Swarm Beyond and Vermivora bachmanii, the album carries on with its apocalyptic theme with the end of civilization drifting ever closer and told superbly well through the use of heavy riffs, ambient sounds and distant soundclips moving the story along.

The Great Blackout, The Sixth Glare and Red Swarm Beyond are the other tracks where Cegvera excel the most. As the music is always constantly challenging and evolving into a more emotional and cinematic based narrative. You can expect more of the same stylish mix of Post-Doom, Sludge Metal, Psych and Ambient based riffs on the second part of the album with the band creating a nightmarish world coming to an end.

The production of The Sixth Glare is first class and this is perhaps the best Cegvera have ever sounded. Maybe the album will be to bleak for some but there is a hidden beauty to it all and it makes for a truly epic and brilliantly entertaining album.

However, this is only the first part of a two-part story. As the story continues within the upcoming Vinnum Sabbathi album – Of Dimensions And Theories. As Cegvera Lead Guitarist – Gerardo – is a member of both bands and it’s quite rare for two different bands to continue the story on different albums. So expect The Sixth Glare to be the first part in a truly magnificent Science Fiction narrative.

However, this is Gerardo and Matt chance to shine and purely as a Cegvera album, this is their best album to date.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Cegvera and Stolen Body Records for the promo. The Sixth Glare will be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl via Stolen Body Records and CD via LSDR from March 06^th 2020.

Links:

Facebook | BandCamp

Cegvera - Creations (EP Review)

Release date: July 11th 2017. Label: Self Released. Format: DD

Creations – Tracklisting

1.Centralia 03:02

2.Iguala 05:03

3.Aral Sea 05:31

4.Mosul 05:50

5.Latrun 05:10

Band Members

Gerardo Arias: Guitar

Aaron Scrupps: Bass

Matt Neicho: Drums

Review

Cegvera return with their new EP – Creations – and it's just as heavy as their excellent debut album Fractrals which was released back in 2016. Cegvera have a member of Vinnum Sabbathi in their ranks and they play a similar kind of psychedelic doom riffs. Though these guys firmly leave the spaced out sounds that Vinnum Sabbathi are known for.

Opening track – Centralia – has a Pelican-esque sound to it with Cegvera creating a heavy doom/fuzz hybrid sound that oozes eerie atmospheric rock. It has quite a haunting feel to it and it's quite different to their debut album as Cegvera focus firmly on the music here and not adding any political soundclips yet.

Second track – Iguala – carries on the atmospheric doom/post-metal journey as the band continue to lay down heavier sounds to immerse the listener with. Cegvera return to the political sounds of their debut album as they splice topical current soundclips into the action for one of the EP's crushing and standout songs.

Third track – Aral Sea – opts for a more psychedelic post-rock sound as the action is dramatically slowed down for the first minute or so before Cegvera add moments of heavy fuzzed out riffs. It's quite a contrast to the opening two tracks that show a different side to Cegvera's sound. The haunting political soundclips soon take over and the song acts as a cautionary tale of the worldwide current political climate.

The final two tracks – Mosul and Latrun – continue with more heavy droned out sounds with moments of creepy fuzz appearing here and there.

Cegvera have released another superb record and this EP shows how the band are not afraid to take risks with their music by creating a haunting doomed out score matched against hard hitting social political commentary.

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

Links:

Facebook | BandCamp

Cegvera - Fractals (Album Review)

Release date: December 13^th 2016. Label: Self Released. Format: DD

Fractals – Tracklisting

1.Varroa 05:23
2.2039 07:42
3.Natural Threats I 05:07
4.Natural Threats II 03:15
5.Herds 05:25
6.Refractive Errors 03:40
7.Fractals 06:27
8.Rise 06:18
9.After the Fracture 01:03

Band Members

Gerardo Arias - Guitar

Aaron Scrupps - Bass

Matt Neicho - Drums

Review

Cegvera is an Instrumental Psych Doom/Sludge Metal Band with the band creating a dark tale by fusing current political events into their music. Heavy, gloomy with an ever knowing eye on the world's current political climate. Cegvera have an air of intelligence around them. Sure to most folks they sound like a lot of other Instrumental Doom/Sludge Metal bands.

From opening track Varroa, you don't sense anything different though the music is gloomy and highly atmospheric. Give it a few moments and you will hear soundbytes from the classic movie Soilent Green. A chilling after thought with the sludgy and doomish post-metal vibes. The psychedelic environment allows Cegvera to create a more world weary environment with the bone-crunching riffs becoming more confident as time passes by.

Second track - 2039 - carries on the bass heavy distorted sound with minimal beats and sounds building up to a more fast paced style of sludge metal. The song does sound flat in places with the instrumental work being slightly less than impressive compared to the excellent opening track. Though Cegvera manage to pull things together for the final moments of the song with another superbly chosen soundclip to create an unsettling mood.

The following two tracks - Natural Threats I and Natural Threats II - are where Cegvera start bringing modern events into their music with a certain elected president making familiar infamous statements. Though this song was written a year ago as stated by Cegvera themselves. The music is what should be the main thing as this is perhaps one of the standout tracks on the album. Expect more spaced out fuzz laiden sludge riffs with Cegvera moving up a gear and playing a faster style of music.

Other songs such as Herds, Fractals and Rise carry on the instrumental sludge/doom riffs with more elements of political overtones that give the album a more unsettling edge. Apart from a few rough moments, the production is handled superbly well. The sound is loud, clear and crisp. It's refreshing to hear an instrumental album such as this.

As Fractals is a complex album with something important to say about the world around us. With a member of Vinnum Sabbathi in their ranks, you can hear familiar elements between these two great bands. Fractals are a brutally honest album and that's a rare thing for instrumental albums to achieve. If you're not interested in the overall political message of the album then you can rest easy and enjoy the heavy sludge riffs the band has created here. Fractals is a superb album. No Question.

Words by Steve Howe

Links:

Facebook | BandCamp