Album Type:
Album
Date Released:
Sept 02nd 2014
Label:
Self Released
Surrounded By
Shadows - track listing:
1. Steamroller
2. Her Majesty
3. Join Us
4. Smoke Signals
5. Make It So
6. Creeper Beast
7. Made To Suffer
8. Surrounded By Shadows
9. The Mountain Man
2. Her Majesty
3. Join Us
4. Smoke Signals
5. Make It So
6. Creeper Beast
7. Made To Suffer
8. Surrounded By Shadows
9. The Mountain Man
Band Members
Shane Ocell - Drums
Tanner Crace -
Guitar , Vox , Synth
Christopher Coons -
Bass
Roger Williams -
Bass
Review:
Sorxe
are a four piece post-metal Goliath who formed in Phoenix, Arizona in
2012. Yeah that's right...I said post-metal! You got a problem with
that? Like Neurosis you say? Maybe. Do they listen to ISIS? Probably.
Are they any good...In a word, yes.
Anyway...enough
pissing about.
The
opening track is aptly named 'Steamroller'. It's heavy, really heavy.
A simple pounding riff drags you in and stamps all over you, while
the vocals sway between angry as hell and a cleaner, more ethereal
sound. Flutters of stoner-rock inspired guitar tails make the
continued riff more interesting. The pace slows, the drums become
more oppressive, the whole song changes in to something else, a
progression that makes sense as it moves towards a spaced out
passage. Then we're off again. Things remain aggressive until the
last second. Stand-out track indeed! A good way to start an album.
Track
two 'Her Majesty' has a post-hardcore feel. The vocals are more
pronounced from the off. Weird guitar noises pulsate until the riff
builds, accompanied by a tribal drum pattern. Then we get handed
another riff, this one seems to have come from the Mastodon school of
metal. The music moves between these two elements until we're
introduced to a dark, blues infused breakdown. It doesn't take long
for the heavy to resurface and lead us out.
Cue
drum intro...'Join Us'. The first few seconds almost feels like we're
about to listen to The Dillinger Escape Plan, then it gets all
heavy-doom-like and yet ANOTHER change in to a clean passage, with
some mono-tonal chanting vocals that wouldn't be out of place on a
Shrinebuilder album. I almost jumped when the agro returned with
angular precision. The lead out is just noise but I like the way it
made my head buzz. Pretty strange stuff.
Then
comes 'Smoke Signals'. A stunning instrumental sound-scape full of
cleverly crafted echoes, distant noises and crescendos. The powerful
riffs that sit between each passage are truly massive. This is
probably the most post-metal track on the album but I think it's
pretty damn epic.
'Make
It So' is an unusual hybrid of crust, post-hardcore and avant-garde
metal. Again, there are lots of changes but they don't seem to have
as dramatic an effect as they do in earlier tracks. There is yet
another mellow section but by this point in the tune I had lost some
enthusiasm....until they lay down an enormous sludge apocalypse! The
last couple of minuets pulled me back on board.
Track
number 6 'Creeper Beast' is introduced with a low-mid synth pulse
that lasts just a few seconds until a palm muted chug arrives
alongside a spitting vocal line. There's a short breather, then the
first climax wave; drums introduce a down-tempo metal riff that
quickly ends in dead silence. I kinda wish the track ended there but
wave number two comes along and makes little sense (to me anyway). I
feel the band started to get a little lost....I know I did.
'Made
To Suffer' was just odd. All sorts of ideas thrown together, no real
direction here. Some of the heavier passages were pretty cool but it
took all my will power not to keep skipping the track for fear of
losing my mind.
Title
track 'Surrounded By Shadows' starts off with some very nice
atmospherics. A swelling bass line sits behind controlled feedback,
distant washes and cymbal rolls. It darkens as it progresses. On
first listen I thought it would go somewhere on it's own but it
serves more as an introduction to the closing track.....
….'The
Mountain Man'. I felt we were back on target. Sorxe hang back, then
unleash a volley of powerful brick wall riffs and reverb soaked lead.
I was satisfied. The outro was an anticlimax but where else would
they go? I'm not really sure.
Sorxe
have their own ideas. Their sound is more than post-metal by numbers.
They didn't just regurgitate 'Through Silver In Blood' or steal riffs
from 'Panopticon'. You can obviously hear the influences burned in to
the minds of the musicians when they listened to such important
pieces of work. There's simply no getting away from the fact that a
small handful of bands have left a mark on almost everything that
came after. Sorxe have created something all their own, it's not
perfect and I could easily pick out more than one track that I would
probably skip while listening to this album in my ivory tower. but
each part has it's place and adds to the experience. Don't believe
me? Go listen to the leaked track over at Cvlt Nation for a taste of
the sludgy nectar.
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Sorxe
Website:
http://sorxe.com/
Written
by Keeran Williams
Thanks
to Earsplit PR for sending us a promo to review. Surrounded By
Shadows will be available to buy from Sept 02nd 2014.
