Strontium Fields

Soon to celebrate 20 years together (well, in late 2024), Slomatics haven't released very many albums over that time, with latest album "Strontium Fields" being their seventh so far, though of course they have issued split recordings with other bands, a couple of live albums and maybe the odd single. As might be expected, "Strontium Fields" continues with the Belfast trio's futuristic sci-fi fascination, in particular with odd worlds that mix the past – often the very distant past, as in hundreds of thousands of years ago – with the present and the future, but with an expanded musical palette, begun on previous album "Canyons", that includes more psychedelic and progressive rock influences and elements, and which features a more operatic style of singing from drummer / vocalist Marty Harvey. At the same time, "Strontium Fields" is still recognisably epic and often bombastic sludge doom metal, though less bludgeoning than in the past (that is, the band's past).

The oddly named (perhaps) "Wooden Satellites" gives a hint of the eccentric lyrical and musical universe where the time-space continuum has become a bit unstable and civilisations draw in tools and technologies from past, present and the future to build societies that seem to have no beginning and no end. Hard-hitting percussion (even a beat that seems to come from a wooden board being thumped) and deep burning-lava guitar riffs meet grand and ethereal synthesiser wash drone in a song that may be short in length but long on technical sonic complexity. Harvey's singing (still a little bit shouty) soars high above the booming riffs. The soundscape established expands hugely in "I, Neanderthal" with heavenly if shrill keyboard wash over raging foghorn riffing, with Harvey exerting himself on vocal duties as if his very life depended on singing far beyond his natural range and ability. The massive booming riffs give way to a tense passage of piano and percussion and an uneasy compromise is reached.

"Time Capture" is the first song where synths dominate over strings and Slomatics reveal their retro-1970s prog rock musical detour, with Harvey's near-operatic singing comparable to 70s acts like Kansas, Yes and early Queen. At the same time though, the restrained use of synths to create mood, sonic depth and a delicate contrast with Harvey's vocals and the slightly stompy drumming turns "Time Capture" into a creature of beauty and wonder. Of course this sets the stage for the steamroller doom, tribal Stone Age stomp and soaring synths (with a hint of juggernaut decadence) of "Like a kind of Minotaur". Another unusual (for Slomatics) step is taken with "Voidians" where Harvey almost sings a cappella with only the sparsest of synth accompaniment for the first couple of minutes before the twin axe attack of David Majury and Chris Couzens steamrolls across the scene and obliterates all resistance.

The rest of the album zigzags between moody melodic keyboard music ("Zodiac Arts Lab") and steely stentorian sludge doom, united by Harvey's vocals and futuristic space ambient effects, and I have to confess this part of the album can be monotonous, with the musicians trying hard to balance their core style with other elements that are all too easily overwhelmed by the tremendous Slomatics sludge doom sound. Harvey's singing may have improved out of sight since the last album but there's still work he needs to do to be able to convey fully the emotion behind the lyrics or their intended meaning. On some tracks (like the closer "With Dark Futures") where the guitars have died down and subtlety and restraint are perhaps needed, the vocals are police-siren loud and blaring.

A mostly solid and consistent effort, the album does feature some synth-based experimentation with effects and mood, and there are occasions where the band goes down a dreamy, soulful detour. Undoubtedly "Strontium Fields" benefits from the richer textures, the expanded ambient range and the sonic depth from this experimentation. Even so, much of this experimentation seems restrained, and perhaps errs on the side of caution, when it could afford to be feral and sharp, and give those heavy molten lava riffs some savage competition.

I'd like to think though that maybe on their next album, Slomatics might surprise us all and go off on a trancey electro-psych tangent that complements their essential booming, crushing style, turning it into truly inspired and experimental ambient sludge doom psychedelia. A tall order for sure but I'm confident that with time and playing around with their style and sounds, the band will finally hit the right balance and bring out a masterpiece work.

To be honest, Slomatics have surprised me. I’ve experienced them before, first on their Totems split with Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard, then on one of their older albums, and I wasn’t that impressed. But Strontium Fields gives me a new chance to dive into the Northern Irish trio, and although the ballpark style was what I remembered - a kind of sludgy, stonerish take on trad doom - the album as a whole supplies plenty to get my brain working. The structuring of the relatively brief listen keeps tripping me up, because I’ve imbibed this without keeping an eye on the music’s progress and songs tend to merge into one another, not to mention deviating from standard verse-chorus dynamics, so that I think I’m on the second or third track when actually the album is near the end. In a sense, Slomatics’ status as a three-piece produces some of that disorientation, since they use loud/quiet transitions more often than doom outfits like Conan or Electric Wizard ever would, plus the quiet moments function as key sections, not just the rests that are standard for others.

Let me introduce 'Time Capture' as a quiet song that I thought was a bridge in another song, suitably enough underestimating its length colossally seeing as it’s in fact a relatively long piece at 6 minutes. The otherworldly vibes transmitted from a cosmic keyboard and meditative beats go a little beyond 'Planet Caravan' in terms of speculative distance, yet provide the same frozen moment of intense contemplation, also at odds with the general buzz and rumble of the album at large. Indeed, a sense of Black Sabbath’s early wandering creativity seems a good match for Strontium Fields, what with crushingly heavy riffing offset by those quiet reflective sections and some “retro-futuristic space synths”, which is a phrase that will make sense if you’ve also heard MWWB. The main departure from the formula of the doom grandfathers comes with a few moments of misanthropic sludge that depart from clean vocal territory too. I guess another way to look at this would be Hawkwind versus Yob, except none of the songs go on too long.

Like a lot of good doom and stoner, time sort of ceases to be relevant after pressing play on Strontium Fields though. It seems ridiculous that 'Zodiac Arts Lab' can last just 2 and a half minutes when it has the sprawl of a whole Sunday afternoon, not the only occasion when the distance of the vocals plays into the hands of Slomatics. Not only does that effect create atmosphere, the treated voice of Marty Harvey also downplays some of the odd scales that he uses, sounding not out of tune exactly but more out of sync with the rest of the universe - a thoroughly appropriate notion for the cosmic explosions in 'I, Neanderthal' and 'With Dark Futures'. During the black hole-inducing doomy parts he sticks out a little, while oddly enough he sounds perfect for the stargazing beauty of the quieter pieces. In this sense, it reminds me a little of doom/grunge act Fatima, another awkward but ear-catching bunch. From the vocals I find the most reason to label Slomatics as sludge, and the sticky non-catchiness of that attribute brings with it a caustic ounce that keeps the whole release unpredictable despite its sluggish nature.

In the end, I think what impresses me the most is how Slomatics make so much out of so little. Their line-up stands slim, without even a listed bass player on this album, no song outstays its welcome or overeggs its moment, and yet each feature added contributes to the whole. Besides, Strontium Fields merits the exceedingly rare description of an album I would put on repeat. Most bands tire me after their allotted time is up, not because their music is terrible but because they have already exhausted the possibilities generated by the combination of their elements - they have almost overplayed their strengths. By contrast, this 8 track effort feels fresh all the way through, seeming barely to dip into Slomatics’ pool of resources, and hinting at several moments of the band’s ability to go to the absolute limits of heaviness and to split the atom in terms of delicacy. That’s not to say we have an utterly perfect record here, but I’ve never really been one for perfection. Strontium Fields simply manages to be consistently intriguing, and that’s something I can’t get enough of.


Originally written for The Metal Observer - https://www.metal-observer.com/3.o/review/slomatics-strontium-fields/