Album Type: Full Length
Label: Total Rust
Release date: 12/5/2012
Track Listing:
| 1 | Ritual Of Chaos | 8:22 | ||
| 2 | Delirio | 8:01 | ||
| 3 | Je Suis Nee | 7:17 | ||
| 4 | Souls Colliding | 9:32 | ||
| 5 | (You Are) The Mirror | 7:20 | ||
| 6 | Tha He Na Te | 9:23 |
8 years of hard work, few self-released albums, rich live experience (including phenomenal performances at high-profile festivals like Roadburn and Doom Shall Rise), and now Swiss all-female Doom band shEver joined TotalRust to grace us with their strongest album yet. "Rituals" is all about Sludgy brew of Death Doom Heaviness. Crushing riffs, crawling rhythm, hate-drenched vocals and a melody that creates unique trance-inducing atmosphere.
These honoring the sounds as diverse as of Mythic, Cathedral, Bloody Panda, Buried at Sea, Sleep or even early My Dying Bride might develop an addiction to these six aggressive pieces, stretching over fifty minutes of DOOM Rituals...
Current line up
Alex: eve-ill brutal screaming & voice
Jessica: down-tuned heavy riffing & voice
Nadine: drone-doom bass, infernal growls & violin
Sarah: doomed drums
Current line up
Alex: eve-ill brutal screaming & voice
Jessica: down-tuned heavy riffing & voice
Nadine: drone-doom bass, infernal growls & violin
Sarah: doomed drums
Coming from the beautiful landscapes of Switzerland, sheVer is not really a newcomer in the Doom/death Scene. The band has even earned the respect from many big festivals including the Roadburn thanks to their first album and EP's.
So, one of the first main characteristic of this band is that all the members are women :)
But please, forget all your narrow-minded ideas or old clichés, becasue sheVer can bury many men's bands.
Let's talk about the music, Dark, Heavy and by the way DOOOOMy as hell.
sheVer really knows its subject. And they will prove it in these 6 tracks. The album begins with "Ritual Of Chaos", a really representative son, of what is gonna smash you in the face during the following tracks. The song begins with some arpeggios that directly put you in a state of gloom... and "then comes dinner" ..... Dark ambiences, Muddy Riffs, and what a sound!
Alexandra's vocals are really impressive. Sometimes goin from growls to clean. She does one of the best vocals I've heard on this kind of Doom/Death release. The second part of the song comes with an apocalyptic doomy riff with an incredible atmosphere reminding me of NEUROSIS.
Don't get me wrong, sheVer never really sound like another band. They have found their own sound and style. Goin' from Doom Metal to Death Metal with a kind of Pagan spirit there. I don't know if sheVer have already listened to CELTIC FROST (another famous band from Switzerland), but there is in their music this kind of fantasmagoric atmosphere ... Maybe comin' from their celtic blood :)
But, don't worry you'll never have here any speedy riffs or Heavy metal songs..No, sheVer wants "to cover you with dirt"..... Yes; like Alice in Chains had the talent to do. I mean, "Rituals" is one of those albums that will not only put cool dark riffs in your ears..... But will transport you into the album.
"Delirio" the second track of the album is another great proof .As soon as the first note enters, the sound of the thick bass will put you down. Playing with the effective recipe of melting dark arpeggios, with mystic whisperings and sludgy bass & drums, sheVer have created here a kind of Manual Of Darkness.... turning everything from light to dark.
"Je suis Nee" is surely one of my favourite tracks. There is here something that every fan of Dark Ambiences will love. Think about YOB, meeting My Dying Bride and Electric Wizard...... And you'll have Surely one of the best Doom/Death tracks of the year
Doin' a track by track review would be crazy as there is really not any weak songs on this album.
Each track is a kind of chapter in a Book of Occult, they all deal with the same theme but show you a different side of it, track after track. sheVer has without a doubt put the best of themselves in these 6 tracks and this new release will surely help them to conquer some new fans accross the world.
Only excellent musicians with a perfect knowledge of the Doom/Death genre can release killer songs as "Tha He Na Te", "Delirio" or "Je suis Née". The Doom/death music scene is growing up everyday, seeing new talent arriving from all around the world and sheVer, is one of these band. They are doing something that we have already heard on many Doom albums in the past?
No, sheVer rejuvenate the genre and give here one of the must have records of this year.
Written by Seb Bismuth
This is another brilliant release and thanks a bunch to Seb for writing this great review. Please check the links below for more info about the band. Thanks also to Gad from Total Rust for giving us the record to review. Support this band and this brilliant label from Jerusalem, Israel.
No comments:
Post a Comment