Surtr-World of doom

Altsphere
2011


I remember reviewing the three song demo from France's Surtr just over a year ago and being very impressed. However since it was only three songs and one was a cover it was difficult to totally get a handle on this band. Now they have released their full length debut. I was unaware this was coming out and just showed the other day, but I certainly welcomed it because I love some good doom. This is pure, stripped down doom along the lines of Black Sabbath, Saint Vitus and Reverend Bizarre. The album consists of six tracks with five of them being given the generic names Parts I-V and the other track is a cover of Reverend Bizarre's "Doom over the world" which is inserted between parts III and IV. Slow and deliberate is the name of the game for most of their songs with a sharp focus on pulling ever ounce of life out of all the notes and beats they create. The vocals are generally clean and deep in tone although there are a few modern style growls mixed in. Actually the growls really helped change things up a bit. They have a fine grasp on when to switch up the pace which really helped to maintain my interest. My favorite track is likely Part V. Not the longest track on the album, but it may the song with more pace changes than other track. Indeed the album as a whole gets better as it goes along like they are building up steam and confidence. The vocals on the first two tracks was slightly low and I suppose it was intentional since they are loud enough on the other tracks. I found myself fiddling with the volume control on those songs in order to hear the vocals. That's a minor concern because other than that this and impressive outing. I am glad to see another solid classic doom style act plying their trade and succeeding.

http://www.myspace.com/surtrdoom