Band:	Castero
Album:	Infiltration Remediation
Style:	Sludge metal, Stoner metal
Release date:	November 01, 2008
A review by:	Bas

01. Seek Your Affection
02. Time Of Dying
03. Sands Of Time
04. Take My Life Away

Formed in 2006 these Irish haven't been dormant during these two years. In 2007 they have put out two demos, a third in 2008 and in the same year their first EP titled Infiltration Remediation. Their music isn't easy to label, but I'd say the music is mainly stoner-rock/metal with some touches of sludge. Next to this they also use a very gritty production which adds a whole new layer to the overall sound.

While sounding very dense on the surface, but conveying a feeling of emptiness underneath, the, mainly fast, riffing forms the bulk of Casteros music. In contrast the drums have a very hollow and echoing sound to them and always stay in the midtempo area. They do a great job backing up the bass and guitar parts although I'd prefer a bit less use of the cymbals. Unfortunately the vocal-performance kind of ruins the whole thing though. Emotion is the key-word here, respectively the lack of it. Whatever emotions the music should get across in the end, the vocals are often the most important conveyer, this time the vocals don't bring over much emotion whatsoever (not even a real lack of them either actually).

I already mentioned the production, but in this case it's a very important part of the band's sound. Although the music is generally quite modern-sounding the production is of the garage-type. It seems to add a really gritty coating over the whole atmosphere and adds a lot to this EP in general. As for the coverart, it's rather crude but it completely suffices to show a picture of the kind of atmosphere you're in for with this release!

All in all I'd say these Irish-men still have some things to get straight, mainly some practice in the vocal department, but still everyone who got their appetite whetted by this review should check out their myspace page, maybe there's something in it for you after all. Especially when considering that it features three of the four songs in full length (the whole EP being a bit shorter than 16 minutes).