ALBUM REVIEW: Savigaila – Erdve

Heaviness, of course, is a subjective concept. While many focus on crushing riffs, pummelling drums and harsh vocals, there can be more to it than that. Sometimes, an album is heavy in more of an atmospheric sense. In other cases, records can carry a serious emotional weight, often in their lyrics or themes. Whatever your personal preference, there’s no question Lithuania’s ERDVE have pretty much all of that in spades. With just three members, the band’s mix of hardcore, black metal and sludge is utterly apocalyptic. They first made waves in our scene with 2018’s Vaitojimas, which now gets a much anticipated follow-up in the form of Savigaila.

Anyone who heard Vaitojimas would know that ERDVE have absolutely no problems with complete sonic obliteration. The band are quick to prove that again here, with opener Lavondėmės launching straight into punishing blast beats and sludgy riffing. It’s a hair-raisingly heavy track that sets something of a benchmark for much of the record to follow. Second track Smala is arguably even better, making for a firm early highlight. It’s bleak and violent once again, and features a particularly emotional vocal performance from guitarist/vocalist Vaidotas Darulis.

Things stays heavy from there, with sixth track Bendryste also standing out as one of the album’s most tortured highlights. Aside from perhaps Darulis‘ vocals at points, there aren’t really any stand-out individual performances on Savigaila. Instead, the band operate as a tight, taut and crushing unit. The production, also handled by Darulis, is excellent. Every instrument sounds absolutely massive, with the overall effect one of complete suffocation. 

As much as this is a consistently heavy record, Savigaila is also quite impressively varied. We get the first real hint of this on third track Votis. This takes the form of a slower and more meditative instrumental piece. There’s still a real heaviness to it, but more in terms of brooding mood than utter devastation. The same is true of fifth track Pleura, this one built around an atmospheric electronic throb to similarly menacing effect. These shifts are a welcome inclusion on the record, and invariably accentuate the ample crushing violence whenever it resumes.

Another thing ERDVE prove they’re capable of on Savigaila is melody. Perhaps no song illustrates this more than the album’s eighth track Pragulos. It’s a dynamic piece too, taking its time to build from a lone semi-clean guitar before the full band comes in. In a rare turn for Darulis, it even sees him provide melodic clean vocals for another overall album highlight. It pairs strikingly with the title track which follows directly after. This one’s similarly dynamic, although it does pretty much the exact opposite to its predecessor by opting once more for a seriously torturous heaviness.

With a runtime of just under 43 minutes, Savigaila is a great length. There’s enough variation to avoid it feeling too long or unrelenting, but it also calls time before it runs out of ideas. The evolution from Vaitojimas is undeniable, and it feels like ERDVE could have a few more tricks up their sleeve in the years to come. In the meantime, this is a record that ticks pretty much all the right crushing boxes, and one that fans of ambitious and weighty heavy music will no doubt keep coming back to.

Rating: 8/10

Savigaila is set for release on July 23rd via Season Of Mist.

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