S.U.S.A.R.

SUSAR is all about textures and the shades can be subtle. The grey-purple colors of the front and back cover are indicative, the music being wave after wave of heavy sound and imagery, blighted industrial buildings, leaden-smoke.like riding on a bullet train into a black hole. There are contrasts in the "color" of the sound and there is motion, both of which are depicted in the cover and exhaustively pursued over the spread of the album. Crimson and Tool are oft-mentioned in reviews of this album but don't let those associations form a notion for you. There are metal, space rock, industrial, and experimental elements at play here and SUSAR defies easy explanation.

Strap on your seat belts. Tracks average around 7 minutes in length and are primarily instrumental. I can really only describe the music in an abstract and general manner, as a whole. Tracks will have mellower passages that build, bit by bit, layer by layer, until reaching often crushing sledge-hammer riffage. The double guitar assault is primarily chunk rhythm and riff based leaving the violin to act as the soloing vehicle, which is one aspect that gives SUSAR a unique sound. The bass and drums are both superb and inventive adding much to the construction of these architectural sound pieces. Vocals are used sparsely and provide yet another shade when they do come in, the lyrics being dreamy and dark. Anna Faber contributes sections on the harp which succeed in bringing an exotic feel to the table. The most prevalent "shade" is tension, frenetic, gnawing, without much relief. The violins really impart this nervewracking experience, almost like the soundtrack of a dream where you're being chased. It is not always pleasant and I have to be in the mood or the tension can just drive me batty. But it is a unique and interesting slab of prog metal that deserves a chance to woo you. I appreciate the album being under 50 minutes in length, the band realizing that always throwing 75 minutes at a listener because the technology avails it is not necessary doing anyone any favors.

Recommended to any fan of heavy, crushing, chilling, (mostly) instrumental, sometimes dissonant mood metal.

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