Suton - Sacrilegious

Suton is a doom/black metal band from Bosnia and Herzegovina who formed in 2014.  Although they released a split album in 2016, 'Sacrilegious' is their full length debut.  The band's style is definitely black metal based but it also includes so much more than that.

A very strong mix of doom metal is also presented here and it really works amazing with their sound.  The riffs are dark, grimy, and extremely thick.  But they have the acidic tone of black metal and just enough melody to tie it all together.

While every instrumental aspect of the album is strong, a special mention must go to the rhythm section.  The bass is magnificent and, thankfully, the well crafted production/mixing job, allows it to shine through the guitars.  The drums are consistently engaging and did a fine job of pulling my ears around to different parts of the song that I might have other wise missed.

The vocals are varied and present a well rounded range of styles.  Blackened rasps, screams, growls, and even cleans all find their place among this blackened doom.  

'Grandiose Anthropomorphism. Godlike Incubus,' is the opening track.  The riffs build up the song while the drums lay a sterling foundation as the vocals come into play, adding another layer.  Despite how much is going on in the song in such a short time, it doesn't sound cluttered or messy; everything, very note, every vocal line, is exactly where it needs to be.

'Thirty Seconds. Enlightenment Ritual,' is a slow burn of a song and one of my favorites on the album, if not my favorite. I love how the guitar and drums both wind up the track and push it all upwards and forward.  The bass and vocal patterns are unfurled effortlessly way.  This track showcases what the band is very adept at:  combining solid rhythm guitar and chunky riffs with engaging and melodic lead guitar.

'Beyond Me. Forever Me' has some of the best riffs on the album.  The momentum is there from the beginning and I found myself headbanging uncontrollably  to the first couple minutes of the song.  What sounds like a violin or maybe some type of key, pierces through this and it makes for a very harrowing moment. The suddenly uptick in temp in the later half is awesome because it leads into a clever guitar solo and very punishing guitar.  

All in all, Suton's 'Sacrilegious' album is yet another album on Satanath's discography that is one that presents its extreme mindset in a very engaging and dynamic fashion.  Any fan of doom or black metal would do well to check this out!

8/10