ALBUM REVIEW: Strontium Fields – Slomatics
Sitting on the eastern edge of Northern Ireland, astride the River Lagan, is its capital city Belfast, a bustling port and heavy industry city that has a rich and extensive artistic and music culture, with a plethora of notable stars. Among them are SLOMATICS; the fuzz heavyweights and near 20-year veterans have put Northern Ireland on the map in the world of fuzz-soaked doom. Ceaselessly creative and well versed in creating rich atmospherics, the Northern Irish trio return with their eighth studio album Strontium Fields, an album that demonstrates a post-pandemic reflection on the joys of life through a science fiction lens.
Despite being productive over the pandemic with a number of split releases, their most recent being Ascend/Descend with DOMKRAFT, the masters of fuzz were eager to release a new SLOMATICS full-length. Having grown more expansive in their sound over a trilogy of albums between 2012 and 2016, the band have applied the lessons learnt to Strontium Fields, as a result creating a truly enormous sounding, fuzz-drenched album.
The band’s penchant for storytelling once again guides them through this album, venturing into sci-fi and futuristic realms through hulking doom riffs and vintage synthesisers. With more melody, expansion and experimentation, Strontium Fields is a step forward for SLOMATICS. Marty Harvey (drums, vocals), David Majury (guitars) and Chris Couzens (guitars) have been able to experiment wildly and freely, whilst consistently evolving and consolidating all the lessons learned on previous records.
The use of old synthesisers to add textural and atmospheric layers adds to the album’s distinct sci-fi vibe, while Harvey’s operatic vocal melodies and passionate delivery (especially on Time Capture and Voidians) adds a degree of grandeur to the record. Strontium Fields moves away from its dark and gloomy predecessor – 2019’s Canyons – and sounds more optimistic whilst being uncompromisingly heavy. It is also equally balanced between stripped back synth sections and gut-punching doom, building and releasing the tension smoothly. The monolithic walls of distortion that Couzens and Majury create are interwoven with floating, droning synth passages and Harvey’s vocals seem to float over the top.
SLOMATICS demonstrate a preference for vivid, dramatic and lofty melodies and grizzled, earthy fuzz-soaked riffs encased in an intense doom atmosphere. The deep existential reflections on the joys of life can be felt in every song, even though the imagery in the lyrics is an enigmatic, white-knuckled ride through space. However, while the album is interesting to an extent, it all blurs into one after a few listens as there isn’t much distinction between the two guitars and it becomes a bit muddy to listen to. Alongside this, Harvey’s vocals feel drowned out on a few occasions and the drums don’t always have the power and sharpness they need to cut through these walls of sound. This can detract from the band’s vivid storytelling as you can’t always make out what is being sung.
Bursting into life with Wooden Satellites, the walls of fuzz and dynamic shifts that occur throughout the song set the tone for Strontium Fields. It is here you also get the first taste of the vintage sci-fi synths as it sounds like you’ve gone into Dr. Who’s Tardis. I, Neanderthal is a weighty song that packs a punch, and from this point onwards the grand, operatic feel of the album really kicks into full force. Time Capture dials down the riffs and focuses more on layered and rich synth atmospherics and forms them into a hypnotic and chilled out space ballad. Like A Kind Of Minotaur brings you crashing back down to earth with the deepest, fuzziest and dirtiest riff on the album and is packed with a monstrous groove.
Voidians blends eerie, reverb guitar melodies with huge doom riffs, shifting between the elegant and the monstrous with ease. As a result this feels like a gothic doom track which offers a nice contrast to the established sci-fi vibes. Zodiac Arts Lab once again completely changes the vibe, with deep synths layers and a jangly guitar intro which serves as a delicate interlude before launching into the grungy, growling ARCS. Album closer With Dark Futures consolidates the record and finishes it strongly. BLACK SABBATH style doom and CANDLEMASS-esque vocals mean that SLOMATICS certainly saved the best until last.
Overall, Strontium Fields is a strong and consistent album from the doom veterans but it isn’t their out and out best. Whilst it does continue their long evolution with more experimentation, in some ways it feels quite safe despite having the strong songwriting experience that they’ve consolidated from previous albums. SLOMATICS have gotten where they are with hard work and dedication but unfortunately this album is a somewhat flat addition to the band’s colourful and varied discography.
Rating: 6/10
Strontium Fields is set for release on September 8th via Black Bow Records.
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