Hailing from the forests of Switzerland crawl shEver, delivering their latest slab of Sludgy
Doom. Having witnessed their live performance some 7 years ago, and already owning
’The Mirror’ demo and promo cd, I was greatly anticipating this new album, albeit I
missed their previous self-released EP and full length released in the last few years.
shEver are an all-female doom outfit – let’s get this out of the way from the start. There
is nothing exceptionally unique about women creating music, in fact I get frustrated with
the fuss and disbelief by some to the fact women are able to create excellent extreme
music. Women have always had an ability to create intuitive, emotional, empathic music
– whether it be through the lineage of Blues/Jazz, the likes of Janis Joplin, or even those
Extreme Metal acts around now. An album should exist in itself, regardless of gender or
genre, a collective of artistic minds.
Things kick off very positively with a crushing introspective riff, heavy, with twisted
vocals and pounding rhythms. As the album progresses the crunching riffs continue, in a
Crusty Death Sludge fashion that any Doom-monger would be pleased to hear. There is a
Celtic Frost feel to some of the auditory carnage. Yet, shEver add plenty of variety within
their music which helps keep an interest, for example in track three there is a slow
sludge stoner riff that takes me straight into a Kyuss/Sabbath trance.
The vocal delivery throughout the album is varied – and pertains to be one of the key
elements by which this brand of Sludge will live and die by. There are some awesome
Death Metal growls, akin to Acrostichon, mixed in with plenty of Sludgy-shouted vocals,
alongside some cleaner lines. The interplay between each styles is interesting, especially
when the vocal tracks are layered over each other. Unfortunately, the different kind of
voices don’t always work for me, especially the cleaner parts where the notes aren’t held
as truly as I’d hope.
There are moments of brilliance and sparkle, but I’m generally waiting for it to be more
ghastly, more bewitching, even more crushing – and the album lacks that something
which raises it from just being good. This isn’t helped with the mix, which leaves it
feeling a bit empty and hollow. I must add that the artwork is rather disappointing as
well.
shEver are a good band – and this album is definitely worth checking out. Yet, having
listened to their first efforts, I’m not getting the progression I was hoping for. Throughout
the album I am, too often, wanting something more. On an individual basis some tracks
verge on excellence – but in its totality the album, although solid and emotional, lacks a
certain finesse and inspiration.
http://www.doom-metal.com/reviews.php?album=2275