Style: Sludge, Post-Metal, Metallic Hardcore (harsh vocals)
Review by: Dan
Country: Lithuania
Release date: 23 July, 2021
One trend I’ve rather enjoyed (and even embraced in my own musical output) from the last few years is that of psychedelic elements working their way into heavy music. Rooted in the weed-smoking, acid-dropping hippie culture of the 1960’s, psychedelic rock aimed to create immersive worlds of sound, designed to remove the listener from reality. Atmospheres, effects, and hypnotic, undulating rhythms during lengthy instrumental passages were used to create soundscapes that could take on lives of their own, no longer bound by analog instruments or human musicianship. These same rules apply to heavy music today – a ‘psychedelic’ label can be applied to any genre, and generally indicates that the songs were created with escapism in mind.
The most frequent extreme genre to receive psychedelic treatment is black metal. The cascading waves of tremolo picked harmonies and blastbeats already lend themselves well to hypnosis, but add in some trippy effects and intentionally droning passages to lose yourself in, and you’ve got all you need for an auditory trip. More death metal bands are starting to embrace these techniques too, especially in the more dissonant or avant-garde regions of the genre. Atmospheric sludge, however, has been so far ahead of the curve that it’s fallen a bit behind.
Long regarded as one of the more atmospheric and dynamic genres of extreme metal, atmosludge relies heavily on reverb and synth effect layers to create slow-moving soundscapes that build into fierce, raging crescendos. There’s a knack to skillful execution of this vision, ensuring that the pacing is just fast enough to not grow stale or boring, and to maintain dynamic motion throughout each track. Intentionally adding psychedelic elements is a natural progression of the genre, and can take otherwise subpar compositions to the next level. With Savigaila, Erdve have proven themselves masters of psychedelic atmosphere, but perhaps not quite masters of sludge metal or songwriting.
Coming out of the gate swinging, opener “Lavondėmės” is a furious, grindy, hardcore assault that decelerates into a harsh, droning atmosphere, perfectly establishing the band’s range and intent. If the entire album maintained this level of songwriting intricacy and thoughtfulness, placing this album near the top of the year’s aoty lineups would be a no-brainer, but alas, Savigaila has a bit too much psychedelic filler to keep me fully engaged.
The soundscapes this Lithuanian three-piece crafts are absolutely riveting, full of dynamic effects and pulsating, hypnotic rhythms, but I’d really like to see more than one idea per song. Between the two-chord progression that comprises “Smala” and the single musical idea of “Votis,” there’s almost ten minutes of psychedelic downtime before another heavy hitter re-enters the scene. Again, I have to applaud the atmospheres within these two mellower tracks – “Votis” in particular hits the spot perfectly when it enters – but each just drags out its one idea a hair too long for my tastes.
“Betonas” reinvigorates the record, reminding us all why we’re here – Erdve can fuck HARD when they want to – but far too quickly whizzes by and dumps the listener right into more filler. At their heaviest, Erdve reminds me of Full of Hell or an even more savage Cult Leader, but with added psychedelia. More post-metal or sludgy influences like Cult of Luna or Neurosis occasionally poke through the mix, but show up as mellower songs that lack direction or motion, opting instead to dwell on a singular motif for their duration.
Overall, while I appreciate many moments on this album, it feels like a small handful of decent metallic hardcore songs interspersed among a collection of single-idea jams for “atmosphere” – completely disparate, with no songwriting flow to speak of. The overall pacing and dynamics of the album are good, and like I’ve said, each soundscape is interesting and worthwhile, but it’s honestly an odd album. None of the moody songs really go anywhere, they just tread in their own self-indulgent psychedelic waters a bit too long for my tastes. It reeks of “oh, this sounds cool, let’s play it for five minutes because we have no other ideas!” and I honestly just want more out what I listen to. More like that opening track, please.
Recommended tracks: Lavondėmės, Betonas, Sugretinimas, Savigaila
Recommended for fans of: Cult Leader, Full of Hell, Sectioned, Yautja, End
Final verdict: 5/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram
Label: Season of Mist – Bandcamp | Website | Facebook
Erdve is:
– Vaidotas Darulis (guitar, vocals)
– Valdas Voveraitis (drums)
– Karolis Urbanavičius (bass)
0 Comments