Surtr - Pulvis Et Umbra - review
Surtr - Pulvis Et Umbra - review
Tracklist
01. Rise Again02. Three Winters Of War
03. Sonic Doom
04. The Call
05. Rebellion
06. I Am The Cross
07. Fred Karno's Army
A review by
jupitreas April 17, 2013
Surtr is a French band that specializes in pretty straight forward traditional doom metal of the monotonous, vintage Saint Vitus variety, with occasional epic tendencies and more 'modern' death-doom parts appearing in some songs. All jokes aside, there is evidence of some talent here, with some of the riffs being appropriately catchy in that morose, moping way that doom metal fans have come to love. Unfortunately, all it takes is the first few seconds of the opener "Rise Again" to notice that something is very, very wrong here. First of all, the vocals are a very weak point of this album due to the singer's tuneless delivery and bad French accent. While a band such as Warning is able to turn a tuneless delivery into art, Surtr's vocalist just sounds like a karaoke performer with bronchitis and listening to a song like "Sonic Doom" is a cringe-inducing experience, even though the track actually features pleasantly grinding guitars in the verses and a well-developed death-doom breakdown.
Secondly, the promo I received features rather poor sound quality, with the kick drums and lower bass being noticeably distorted on every headphone and speaker system that I've listened to this album with. I even downloaded a pirated copy of this album just to make sure that the final release isn't mixed better and lo and behold, welcome to lo-fi country. No doubt, this is caused by an over-zealous, yet inexperienced mastering engineer trying very hard to make Surtr's music sound more imposing than it actually does. Either way, the production is definitely a huge fail and takes away from the enjoyment of this album in a big way, as the overdone kick drums pummel away at you, masking the riffs and vocals alike (although the latter is not such a bad thing).
All in all, Surtr's Pulvis Et Umbra is not really an album I'd feel comfortable recommending to anyone. Certainly, some of the less picky doom metal fans out there will find some things to like about this album; however, even they will be distracted by its aforementioned flaws. Indeed, what I have primarily learned from listening to this album is that everything is better with a dick joke thrown in, even doom metal.
Comments
Comments:
8
Visited by
167 users
|
Posts: 268  |
Posts: 268
Shadow of the Penis = Umbra Peni Pelvis et Umbra = Shallow bowl and Shadow
---- As above, so below.
Loading...
|
 Posts: 6663 |
Posts: 6663 Written by Arcesse Eum on 17.04.2013 at 18:12 Yes, but that is not as funny 
Loading...
|
 Posts: 1062 |
Posts: 1062 Written by jupitreas on 17.04.2013 at 19:18 Yes, but where do you get "penis" from "pelvis"? I understand that they're within close proximity to one another, but you do know what a pelvis is, yes? Pictured here: Not a penis
---- 
Loading...
|
| Posts: 6663 |
Posts: 6663
Hey, what can I tell you, to me the first thing that comes to mind when mentioning the pelvis is that it is in close proximity to the penis. Its the same principle as when someone tells you to "hey, look at her chest" and you immediately stare at the breasts  I do believe it is fairly clear in the review that it was simply my first thought so it is strange to me that you guys are obsessing over it so much.
Loading...
|
 Posts: 6941 |
Posts: 6941 Written by jupitreas on 19.04.2013 at 02:41 True! If this has been the case then I doubt anyone would have posted pics of the ribcage or the breast bone 
---- "A life all mine Is what I choose At the end of my days" --The Gathering "A Life All Mine" from Souvenirs
Loading...
|
 Posts: 3099 |
Loading...
|
|
Posts: 268 |
Posts: 268
If I were this band reading these discussion posts about all their hard work, I'd be pretty disappointed.
---- As above, so below.
Loading...
|
 Posts: 1689 |
Posts: 1689
I tried to give them a chance, and, as you said, musically, there are some really cool riffs here and there, but the vocals are terrible, like someone who does not know what to do with his voice. Seems like they have a chance to get better in the future, but now, it's just another average doom metal album.
---- "Les vers savent qu'ils n'ont pas d'ailes, c'est pour cela qu'ils se cachent sous terre"
Loading...
|
Hits total: 4263 | This month: 2