Hailing from Sydney, Australia, Sumeru are a fearsome five-piece whose cross-genre sounds, although nominally stoner, run the gamut of the heavy spectrum. Citing the likes of Yob, Windhand, Lo! And Torche as influences, the band have teamed up with the mighty WormHoleDeath Records (Evilon, Final Coil, The Way of Purity) to deliver an eight track monster of a record that not only lives up to its initial promise, but which substantially exceeds it. Packaged in a handsome digi-pack (with artwork from Paolo Girardi), this is an album worth laying out for the CD version, and the production (ably handled by James Balderston and Lachlan Mitchell) does a fantastic job of bringing the band’s live sound to the traditionally more sterile confines of the studio.
With Inanis Kultus a short, ethereal piece drawing on the sound of pouring rain and atmospheric noodling, it falls to The Temple to kick the album off and this it does, literally, as Sumeru unleash a monstrous tidal wave of sludge-charged riffs and propulsive percussion. Absolutely devastating, the twin guitars of Peter Bursky and Chris Wilson are deployed to achieve maximum impact whilst the rhythm section of Pat Taylor and Andres Hyde create a thunderous backdrop over which the dynamic duo can lay down their seismic riffs. The spirit of Yob and Neurosis is evoked as the band take their time, building to the eventual entrance of vocalist Matt Power, whose whiskey-and-cigarette-corrupted voice commands the stage absolutely. It’s a hell of an introduction to the band and summon destroyer, with its whip-crack opening and seething riff is no less urgent in its execution. Matt does much to recall Phil Anselmo, his deranged bellow carrying considerable menace as the band rage and burn around him. It’s no one-dimensional slugfest, however, and where Sumeru really impress is with their deft command of dynamic, which sees the tracks ebb and flow over their lengthy run times, always keeping things both heavy and interesting – no mean feat. The first half of the album ends with the shorter, tougher Embrace the cold – a blackened rampage that combines the icy riffing of Peter and Chris with Matt’s raddled voice to grand effect.
The second half of the album opens with the eerie segue, Kala Ratri which provides a moment’s respite from the ferocity that abounds before the listener is plunged straight back into it with darkly progressive doom of Durga! Durga! a track that recalls Blood Mountain-era Mastadon with its creeping riffs and atmospheric ambiance. A mosh-pit killer is dropped next in the form of the unstoppable Rivers of Lethe. Fast, ferocious and offering no quarter, it sets the blood pumping in time for the album’s finale, the nine-minute epic a new ritual. Like all good epics, a new ritual breaks new ground, the band indulging with neo-folk strings and a sense of atmosphere that underscores the band’s relationship with the land upon which the album was recorded. An absolute masterclass in tension and release, a new ritual brings the album to a thrillingly satisfying conclusion.
With beautiful artwork, near perfect production and eight songs that draw widely from across the musical spectrum to offer a musical journey that is both punishingly heavy and yet atmospheric and evocative at the same time, Sumeru have delivered a remarkable piece of work and one in which they can be rightly proud. Well worth checking out. 9
