SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: SUNDECAY – GALE

Sundecay
Gale
Independent

Every year we find bands and artists creating territories that they feel drawn towards that have otherwise been uncleared, nearly hidden by the overgrowth of sounds that others still continue to sow. Every year there’s a group of musicians who search for the spaces that can connect seemingly distant genres and have them grow into a single harmonious concept, and Toronto-based Doom band Sundecay have joined those ranks with their latest EP, Gale.

The members wear the idea of nonconformity like another patch on the battle vest and with undoubtedly good reason. On this album, they are able to find fantastic correlations between dissonant atmosphere and fuzz-drenched groove, incorporating elements of Bauhaus just as well as that of Lord Dying. The tone from the guitar is impressively thick, as heard from the very beginning with “Heavy Motions,” that churns the track’s rhythm over the piercing wail that leads into Rich Pauptit’s soaring, robust voice.

The most impressive element to Sundecay’s music is how they never adhere to any one style, sometimes even within a single track. Ones like “From Corners” are gruff and riff focused, while the closing epic “The Land That Never Thaws” works on a much different principle. They begin with that crunching heaviness that spawned from the early Doom and Occult metal acts, yet transition into a space that is ethereal and downright chilling. However, it never seems out of place. There is always something, whether it is the drum fills or an octave change from the bass, that makes that switch absolutely seamless and the re-entry of the starting riffs that much more heart pounding. This a band who can take the aggression of metal and pair it with a haze of melody and atmosphere until it’s clay in their hands, and we’re waiting with wide eyes (and open ears) for what they create next.

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