Band:	Sur Austru
Album:	Datura Străhiarelor
Style:	Black metal, Folk metal
Release date:	August 2024
A review by:	ScreamingSteelUS

01. Aratarea
02. Stransura
03. Salba Hiara
04. Cele Rele
05. Cele Brune
06. Farmacarea
07. Afurisirea
08. Imparecherea
09. Ispravirea

Where Meteahna Timpurilor and Obârşie crept into view with measured drones, Datura Străhiarelor declares its arrival much more ostentatiously: a horn blares, a half-growled narration grows into gravelly shouts, and the acoustic backing erupts into electricity. It’s an interesting introduction for a band that so far has slipped that heaviness into the midst of atmosphere.

Fundamentally, Datura Străhiarelor hasn’t shifted from its predecessors. It is faithful kin in sound and structure, stretching out black metal-based compositions into mesmerizing atmospheres of drone adorned with folk flourishes; you’ll recognize the ebb and flow between minimally backed flutes and protracted guitar walls, the rattling, woody percussion that conjures a processional creepiness, and the varying levels of distortion in the strained and ghostly vocals. There is, however, a slightly different feeling about this album: it’s something I’d chalk up partially to a more rounded production, which softens the guitars and drums somewhat and enhances that ceremonial consistency in tone, and partially to some more distinctive trends in the songwriting.

The funny thing about my experience with this album is that when I reviewed Sur Austru’s first two albums I had barely ever listened to Negură Bunget and so was determined to make my assessment with minimal reference to the band from which Sur Austru splintered. In some sense I meant this as a favor, as this band certainly has its own identity worthy of acknowledgment, but in some sense it was simple ignorance of relevant context (though not necessarily for lack of trying – I always found Negură Bunget terribly impenetrable, and Sur Austru at least have a much more approachable style). Having since read through Radu’s lovely introduction to Romania’s retired titan, I was prepared to see that connection this time, and indeed I found much stronger similarities than I expected when revisiting Meteahna Timpurilor and Obârşie, but now that I’ve arrived at Datura Străhiarelor, it’s not Negură Bunget who first comes to mind as a comparison (a close third, certainly).

Nay, there’s something closer at hand when you consider the persistent rhythms that combine mechanical drum-and-riff motions with soft yet ominous synthesizers in lengthy, highly progressive compositions that turn extreme metal techniques into atmosphere: Thy Catafalque. Even the striking cover art, an excellent piece of work by local painter Bogdan Tigan, bears a certain resemblance to Thy Catafalque’s lovely painted works. And then there’s the consistency – just as with Thy Catafalque, I feel that I could spin any Sur Austru album and be satisfied with the drone-like, processional aspect to the blackened-but-not-quite-black metal; whichever one happens to be my favorite is likely to be decided narrowly.

The second connection, which in retrospect seems to have obviously been there always, is Septicflesh. “Cele Rele” lays this totally bare with its foreboding brass, suspenseful strings, resonant guitar swells, thunderous stomp, and deep growls: these are things you’ll find dotted around Sur Austru’s discography, but occasionally they come together into a full approximation of symphonic death metal. It nonetheless fits well into the band’s usual mode – amidst these dalliances return the piercing flute, winding guitar lines, and drone-driven mentality that more frequently characterize their sound. I could even see comparisons to Rotting Christ, especially on “Cele Brune”, in which that death becomes a little more technical, the growls become powerful shouts, and the guitar melodies and synth stings begin to sound more like ghostly gothic black metal. (The “ooh-ah” chants on “Imparecherea” also call the Greeks to mind.) As the song fades out, it returns to a more familiar Sur Austru sound: wispier melodies in a more ambient context with traditional instrumentation, ultimately dissolving into pure ether. That’s another strength of this band: wherever they go, it’s never somewhere that doesn’t make sense in the context of its surroundings. Each of their three albums has excellent flow, as if they were written in one piece from start to finish, and the evolutions in sound always coalesce ideally.

I’m sure that to some extent the surfacing of all these elements on Datura Străhiarelor has more to do with my own context for listening – Sur Austru haven’t changed so much as my ability to interpret them has. But I do feel that this album collates some of these techniques into more distinct advances on genre variety than the preceding two albums, and I do find myself noticing specific songs more frequently here, so if Sur Austru were to contemplate a more major departure from what they’ve established, I could see it being along the lines of the specific sounds I’ve invoked. Of course, I’ll be perfectly satisfied if things continue on in exactly this fashion; right from day one, Sur Austru had a strong and recognizable personality, and so far they’ve been very successful in channeling that into full albums.