Thursday 1 May 2014

Oruga - Blackened Souls - Album Review

Oruga - Blackened Souls

Album Type:Album
Date Released: 19th May 2014
Label: Apathia Records

Blackened Souls track listing:

Heretics
We, The Darkness
Dead Among The Living
Disciples
Cursed
Ghosts Of Anneliese

Bio:

Born from random encounters and the will to explore a style not well known in France, Oruga was formed early in 2010. Claiming no labels, but forged from the individual experiences of each individual musician, the band deeply allies the oppressive heaviness of Doom and the filthy rage of Sludge, aggressively impregnated with Metal, all melting into the hypnotic dynamics of Stoner. Never pretending to be revolutionary, the songs are merely performed with heart and guts. Bare-naked expressions of untold feelings and repressed frustrations, escape in a voice about to break, the sorrows of Oruga explode onto the heavy rhythm, emphasized by mighty riffs, unpolished, noisy, massive, raw and desperate. Floating as a cold and melancholic spirit, far away from affiliations and merchandising, the sound of Oruga mirrors their region of origin, North of France: faithful and authentic.

The Band Members

C. - Vocals, B. - Drums, F. - Guitars, P. - Bass, B.J. - Guitars

Review:

Oruga’s style of Sludge Metal languishes in the darkness of despair and misery. Their debut album – Blackened Souls – is one dark ride that is low on feel good mentality but high on loud and brutal riffage with the added menace of Doom Metal to torture your soul to.

It’s a dark, twisted and brutal journey into the darkness held together by intricate blackened sludge riffs with torturous vocals to match that go from death-based growls to the more aggressive clean-based vocals. Oruga deals in epic songs as most of the songs run past the 7 minute to 9-minute mark. You will need patience to experience the full effect of this excellent debut album.

Oruga prove through out that they are definitely a band to look out for from the French Sludge/Doom Metal scene and this debut album will have you wondering how many punishing riffs does this band actually have. Well it’s a lot as the band have written an avalanche of heavy doom and gloom based vibes to impress you with. The mood does get very progressive at times with Oruga writing some complex music to match the haunting lyrics at times especially on tracks such as Cursed, Disciples and Ghosts of Anneliese.

OK, so Oruga are not the first band to play this style of music but they do add elements of groove and melody into the darkness. You may even detect a hint of Stoner Metal here and there. However, it is still a dark and heavy album that wears this element as a badge of honour. The 48 minutes is full of thrills and spills just like a good old-fashioned horror movie.

The album’s production is immense through out. As Oruga, style of noise and music takes the listener into epic heavy territory. If you’re a fan of Mastodon, EyeHateGod and Gojira then Blackened Souls is an album you cannot pass by, as this will speak volumes to you. My advice is to embrace the darkness that Oruga have unleashed with Blackened Souls, as this is one debut album you cannot do without. Intense, loud, angry, atmospheric, moody as heck.

All in all this is a stunning and brutal debut album that will find many followers within the Sludge/Doom Metal scene.

Thanks to ApathiaRecords for sending me a promo. Blackened Souls will be out to buy from May 19th 2014.

Check the Band from Links Below


Written by Steve Howe