#suum

LATIN PHRASE OF THE DAY: IUS SUUM TENERE, OBTINERE – TO MAINTAIN ONE’S RIGHT. #latin

LATIN: ius suum tenere, obtinere ENGLISH: to maintain one’s right. Source: Project Gutenberg EBook of Latin Phrase-Book, by Carl Meissner and Henry William Auden Thank you for visiting!

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

Review by Billy Goate

The other night, I woke from a nightmare and ended up listening to the first album by Italian doomers SUUM. 'Buried Into The Grave' (2018) came out during a crowded time for new releases, many of which were from established bands. It was not a good year for such a newcomer to get noticed, yet thankfully plenty of my fellow critics did and the band ended up signing with Seeing Red Records for a second helping. One thing that struck me was just how much the Roman heavies sounded like they were singing in a massive tube of skull-filled catacombs underneath the city. The effect laying in the dark at 2 am was quite spooky and conjured more familiar Western images of ghouls in fog-clad graveyards.

As promising as that first effort was, SuuM's second album is stronger yet still. Perhaps they've become more comfortable in their own skin, Mark Wolf (vox), Painkiller (guitar), Joe Grave (bass), and Fed Kemper (drums) having had time to gel as a team. There may have been some line-up changes since the first album and following the second, but I'm unclear as to how the band has settled now (at least for their live performances). What I can say is that everyone sounds in top form on 'Cryptomass' (2020), absolutely in tune with the medium (whereas on the first album, it felt a bit more hit and miss for me).

I read some criticism on another well-known metal blog about Mark Wolf's vocals, but I love them. They're not over the top, like so many operatic epic doom singers tend to be. Perhaps you might be better off comparing them with Mikko Kääriäinen of Cardinals Folly or Dmitry Tkachuk of Weird Tales in their '80s Gothic sensibility than to Johan Längquist of Candlemass and Scott Reagers of Saint Vitus, though admittedly there are moments that rise to the height of the latter. Hell, even fellow Italian Paul Chain is worthy of comparison to Mark Wolf, though Mark seems to have a bit more of that animal ́ 'oomph" than Paul.

Compositionally, the first three songs of Crytomass really flowed together for me and it created a most dark, potent atmosphere. Perhaps it was the fade out in "Creatures of the Vault" that broke the spell for me. In my mind, SuuM could have kept going and made one long, grand ritual, but then I'm sure that might have led to listening fatigue for some. Every album needs a sense of pacing and the somber, downcast haze of "Funeral Circle" gives it to us. I'm usually not a fan of guitar solos in epic doom, but the oh so plaintive expression in Painkiller's lead at the five minute mark really got to me. Genuinely sad and genuine is not something that is achieved often enough in heavy music.

Today, Doomed & Stoned is giving you a first listen to the album Crytomass in its entirety, releasing February 14th via Seeing Red Records on digital and compact disc formats (pre-order here). There's plenty more to be discovered on this nine-track wonder (don't miss "The Failure of Creation," my personal favorite), so get ready and...

...give ear.

Cryptomass by SUUM

Follow The Band

SUUM: "Cryptomass" listened the new album of the band | ascoltato il nuovo album della band

Songs suggested: The Silence of Agony, Burial At Night, The Failure of Creation

LINK https://thebibleofmetal.blogspot.com/2020/01/blast-from-dust-suun-cryptomass.html

Summ

Santiago, Chile

2015

Emilio Girardin