EP REVIEW: The Throne – Sarvas
Hailing from Lahti, Finland, SARVAS are a Doom/Sludge/Stoner/Groove five piece. 2016 marks the release of the bands latest EP The Throne on disc as the band have already released the album on YouTube, and their own Soundcloud page.
The Throne is a short and sweet affair, however in the near half hour runtime a lot can be said about the musical styling’s and techniques of SARVAS themselves. As a sound SARVAS could be associated with bands like MASTODON and even LAMB OF GOD, with the 4 genre mash-up shown above groove is a huge part of the music on this album.
Revelation Apparition serves as the albums opening track, hauntingly so, the opening alone gives the listener a great idea of the feel that this album puts out. Chuggy yet messy whilst still having that particular element of tightness, this is groovy and doom all rolled into one nice package. The song ducks and dives through heavy riffs and beautiful acoustic melodies, while the groove game stays strong during verses and choruses.
Track 2 is The Mind That Murders, the albums shortest song and easily the fastest when it comes to tempo. A lot happens in the runtime of this track, it could be easily heard as messy and disjointed, but the more you tune into the track the more certain elements pop out. Each individual aspect of this song assists another pieces deliver, mad props to SARVAS as this is an immensely complex song.
Closing the album is Steadfast, going from the shortest track to the longest now at a whopping 15+ plus minute and boy it is a stunner. With an incredibly groovy opening to it and the perfect amount of bass, the track almost spirals into rhythm. It is easy to get lost in this track, easy to listen to with some gorgeous solo work. Think MASTODON instruments with an almost Randy Blythe vocal edge and that would encapsulate this track well. Steadfast is a belter and easily the best song on the album, everything falls into place superbly when at 10:24 there is nothing, the song fades out.
2 minutes pass until finally at 12:48 an acoustic guitar starts being played gently, another one, greets us joins soon after as a closing piece to the album. This is a wonderful treat and ends the album very nicely; the final sound heard is a familiar explosion effect. This is the same effect that opens Revelation Apparition, so the listener is taken full circle with a feeling that a tall tale has come to a close.
Whilst The Throne could have some more in the way of content it certainly is not lacking anything, it is an experience, a fable almost. Going from start to finish on this album is a treat in the same sense as reading a book, it is the soundtrack to a mighty tale and one that is most certainly worth listening to.
Rating: 9/10
The Throne is set for release on April 8th via Inverse Records.
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