Review Summary: A band providing fresh enjoyable music in the current sea of crapcore.
http://www.myspace.com/sumatrametal
In the stale sea of metal and it's endless sub-genres, it's quite easy to not be able to distinguish one band from another. HOWEVER, after one day of youtube surfing, i came upon kapral18. To some of you..this may sound familiar, to some not. This guy has many guitar covers of songs that I like, and they are good ass covers. And like many other guitarists on youtube, I see the CHECK OUT MY BAND!!! link. Well hell i figure, i'll check this out. It was the single for the song "Heliocratic Infinity." Needless to say, I am impressed.
Phew, just felt I needed to get that out. Now, onto Sumatra.
Hailing from Moscow Russia, the 6 piece band, STILL UNSIGNED, has released their LP Heliocratic Infinity. Upon first listen, I am very impressed. The guitar work on this album, hands down, is amazing. Riff wise, they are hard as *** to play. Solo wise, near impossible. (for me anyway) EX: From cross to flame 2:25. There are many riffs on this album that are just orgasmic. Melodic, bone crushing heavy, what more could you ask for? (last haven of god 2:16) (Earth of corpses 2:33-end of song)
Of course, the guitars aren't the only ones impressing me. The bassist; keeping up with the guitars is a challenge alone, but we hear the occasional bass sweep or tap, which is always a pleasure. The drums are also very good. Fast, clean, and some pretty damn good fills. Although some of the drumming is very straightforward, he definately gets the job done.
This is an album I can safely say I can listen to all the way through. I truely cannot spot any weak songs. The true moment of beauty for me is Pacification. In my opinion, of the best metal instrumentals of 2009.
However, through all the musical orgasms, there is one complaint I have. Vocals. I really do not feel a need for two vocalists from this band. All though other bands, (despised icon) pull this off well, I feel like it's just not suited for this band. Of course, we have one guy doing lows and highs, and one guy doing the monotone hardcore vox. Although the vocals aren't bad, i just feel they could be improved upon vastly.
So, in conclusion. This album is very good, especially in todays scene of ***core. The band does an extremely well job on all instruments, providing fresh, catchy, and extremely hard material to play. I believe this album will appeal to many listeners, and that this band has tremendous potential.
