Surtr - S/T Demo

Surtr are a duo of French doom addicts that formed in 2009 so they are a extremely new band but they already have a demo that is making its way around the doom community. The band is made up of Jeff on guitars and vocals and Regis Beck on drums. The demo was recorded at Recorded at L'Usine, Thionville, France in December of last year so they have wasted no time in getting this out for all of us to hear. Its made up of only two originals and one Black Sabbath cover. The first original up is just simply titled "Part I" and is a 9 minute mainly instrumental number with the occasional vocal from Jeff. Its a long rambling track full of all the influences you would expect from a modern day doom band like Saint Vitus, Reverend Bizarre, Pentagram and of course Sabbath. They use a lot of subtle melodic touches that are interwoven with pure riffing passages. A pretty good track but maybe a little long with not enough musical ideas to warrant the extended running time. The next track is strangely titled "Part V" so maybe there is other installments to be made or released on a future recording. This track is the better of the two originals with some classic sabbathian musical techniques used throughout the track. If great riffs is whats needed for a quality doom metal then this track comes pretty close. Nothing original musically but a fine dose of doom writing just the same, they follow the blueprint of doom metal to the letter here but it is done with integrity and some passion to make a track that demands repeated spins. The final track is a cover of Black Sabbath's "Electric Funeral" and their version is decent but not ground-breaking in any way, just a honest interpretation of the Sabbath classic. Another original tune might have been a better choice but this is a just a first demo and i never say no to hearing Sabbath so i enjoy the version anyway. Interesting to note the first two tracks on this demo are part of a concept they are working on called "World of Doom". This is something i will have to find out more about but the idea of a "World Of Doom" sounds awesome. The whole demo is only a bit over 20 minutes but judging by this they are a band with real potential and deserves to be heard and supported. They have a blog site at Surtr @ Blogspot that will give you more information about the band. One thing is certain, they love their doom and fans of Reverend Bizarre in particular will want to check out Surtr. 8/10

Surtr @ Myspace