Band:	Syrach
Album:	A Dark Burial
Style:	Doom metal
Release date:	July 22, 2009
Guest review by:	Mindheist

01. Curse The Souls
02. The River's Rage
03. A Dark Burial
04. A Mourners Kiss
05. In Darkness I Sigh
06. Ouroboros

Soul-crushing doom trotting in creeping gait as it trudges wearily, encrusted with scornful wretchedness and guttural bellows, somewhere near the shivery hills of Norway's Bergen's Rosenkrantz Tower: this is Syrach's A Dark Burial.

If you're expecting doom à la Griftegård or Mar De Grises (unsullied grief-stricken solos striding through hollow piercing vocals and ponderous drumming) you'll be very surprised to know that Syrach have taken a slightly different approach to forge their 2009 album, thus separating themselves from the wonted doom-ish sound. A Dark Burial is not pure doom, in fact, it seems like these guys are longing to unravel themselves from the doom threads and mold a style of their own combining doom with Rock 'n' Roll, death and 70's Progressive rock. But ironically enough, doom seems to be the most imperceptible sound as the other elements have clearly engulfed it and created a cloudburst of indiscernible sound waves. If you're having difficulties picturing the whole thing, just imagine My Dying Bride, Pagan Altar, Led Zeppelin and Manilla Road blustering on the same stage at the same time and there, you have Syrach. Was it a successful move to coalesce all those sub-genres into one? I guess it depends only on one's way to perceive things. Clearly, they didn't succeed in their quest to finding a "new" sound but the idea of them trying so hard to come up with what could put them among the doom's elites is what matters the most, credit to them for that.

This is a band loath to follow the steps of the doom army generals of the past and reluctant to challenge the likes of Akelei, Procession and Svart for the doom throne. The talent is there, the passion is there but their sound needs a little refinement. A Dark Burial may not be one of the best doom albums of 2009 but these guys have what it takes to establish themselves among the greats. Their style is undefinable and so is their rating.