SIBIIR - Undergang
June 19, 2024, a week ago
(Fysisk Format)
Oslo's Sibiir's third album, Undergang, sounds like a machine rolling onto the battlefield with the opening moments of “Divergence And Deceit”, and then it becomes pretty clear that this is a band who know their Tragedy and From Ashes Rise records, which is great because I also know—and love—those records and I always love a group who take inspiration from legends like those or the mighty His Hero Is Gone.
So, yes, it's d-beat punk/hardcore, simple and powerful, with a nice, huge, Ballou-ish production sound and tons of apocalyptic atmosphere and melody. But there's also more metal riffing to be found here than those bands ever dabbled in, Sibiir looking toward classic Swedish melodic death metal at points, or even Norwegian black (“Placid Waters”); when they bring it back to the more simple d-beat it hits hard, real hard.
Album highlight “The Flood” showcases a very emotionally moving mid-to-slow-paced album midpoint, again bringing the aforementioned kings of this style to mind. “Wearing The Weight” takes sideways razor-labyrinth riffing and slows it down, bringing the mighty Burst to mind. Once the album comes to a close, man, it's clear this is some powerful stuff, Sibiir tapping into something very special here.
Turn it on, put on the headphones, close your eyes, and let these guys just roll you over with their power.
