S.U.S.A.R.

The debut from progressive/post-metal band Indukti, SUSAR is mostly instrumental and reliant on atmosphere, bringing to mind snowy forests and a dark, tribal feeling. Indukti’s music can be violent, explosive and chaotic, while retaining these atmospheric qualities and incorporating mellow, slower passages as well.

Indukti displays their influences proudly, with traces of Pink Floyd and Agalloch (a band whose wintry ambiance they also share) during the slow parts, such as the beginning of No. 11811 and Cold Inside/And Weak (CI/AW are essentially two separate songs based off the same main theme). A small dosage of world and tribal music is present sparsely in the percussion and the atmosphere, which would be a precursor to their heavily tribal-influenced follow-up album, Idmen.

Indukti exhibit a discernible likeness to the bands in the unholy trinity of prog fanboys (that would be Tool, Opeth, and Dream Theater). They take the most guidance from the former, which shows through into the riffing style – the main riff of opening track Freder is straight up Tool. Some touches of Opeth are audible in the soft, clean guitar/acoustic-based parts, and, like Dream Theater, Indukti has difficulty holding back. Not in a sense that there’s a lot of technical wankery going on here, but in regards to how the songs reach a point of high intensity and just plateau, not sure where to go from there or where to stop. While the band uses buildup quite effectively at times, often the music tends to become overly chaotic to the point where it borders on unpleasant and overwhelming, maybe even a slightly boring. This occurs especially near the end of the album where there are fewer variations in heaviness, making these closing songs less interesting. This is the album’s largest flaw, though this constant heaviness brands SUSAR as being assuredly metal.

The other issue is with the drummer, whose snare sound is annoying and cuts through the music, not to mention he takes a little too much liberty behind the kit at times. Indukti has a violinist, which makes the album a more interesting listen – not that SUSAR is generic to begin with, but the violins add another unique element and play an integral role in the band. Indukti has also brought in a guest harpist, who on the contrary really doesn’t add much, only playing occasionally. The guest vocalist from contemporary Polish band Riverside is used sparingly, on only two of the songs, providing clean singing that melds into the rest of the music seamlessly. But overall, you don’t hear the instruments as being separate, and the riffing isn’t very strong or central either. SUSAR is dedicated more to atmosphere and the ebb and flow of the songs than individual performance.

SUSAR is a good debut, atmospheric and with songs that can become frantic, twisting and turning, now and then showing difficulty with restraining their chaotic tendencies but still strong, solid post-metal. It’s a shame this band hasn’t been putting out much new material recently.

Highlights: Freder, Cold Inside… I