The bandname shEver can be viewed as a combination of the words she and ever, but
cleverly put together so that when you pronounce the name it sounds like shiver. Quite a
fancy touch that one.
I don’t know what the thing is about female growlers, but they somehow manage to
sound more aggressive than their male equals. Perhaps it’s because of them having a
shorter larynx, thus forcing them to put more energy into the growling? Alternatively, it
may be that since it demands a lot more from women to (ab)use the throat this way, it
could mean that only those who have enough aggressive motivation will be capable of
doing it. Whatever the reason, after having had no real successors till now, there has
finally come a heir to the throne that 13 and Mythic once held.
shEver’s music lie somewhere inbetween the two aforementioned queens. One one hand
it’s unpleasant and filthy doom/sludge. On the other they have some raw doom/death
elements fit for the late 80’s/early 90’s sound. More precisely, you can expect slow,
heavy, oldschool chugging with clean, though rusty, female backup vocals in addition to
the growls. As an unusual touch, would you believe that a violin could be a natural part
of destructive doom/sludge/death? If you wouldn’t then track two, ‘Silver Water’, will
prove you wrong.
‘Ocean Of Illusions’ is one of the most exiting new releases in the domain of extremely
raw doom metal. For those who like this kind of music, this is one of the few must-have’s
between the turn of the millennium and the time of me writing this review (in the
autumn of the year 2007). However, it is self released so I expect it to be pressed in a
slightly limited quantity. If you want it, either get it now or hope some label will repress
it. [edit by author: Since it took me three years to get this review posted the album is
probably out of sale already. If it is and there are no labels who are interested in picking
this up, then you might want to go with begging the band. Yes, it’s worth every bit of
wear and tear on your knees.]
23/07/2010 Arnstein H. Pettersen
http://www.doom-metal.com/reviews.php?album=1863