Brimming with sludge and excitement, Miami’s Shroud Eater exudes excellence on Strike the Sun.
From the instant “Smokeless Fire” begins and summons the feels of a sun rising amidst mystical clouds, almost like a fever dream as it climbs its way up to the “Iron Mountain” which drops next, Strike the Sun already affirms its’ place as a sonic winner.
The “Iron Mountain” in question is beyond epic with these fuzzed out passages crawling to a beyond satisfying conclusion. Conjuring some Kylesa comparisons later on tracks like “Awaken Assassin” but with way more melody (While screaming lines like “Awaken Assassin, Bringer Of Death!”), this track embodies Shroud Eater with its’ masterfully structured doom building to an epic wall of sound (And yeah, we used “epic” as a descriptor again…it’s that kind of album).
“Another Skin” just boogies down from the get go with a melvins meeting with the aforementioned Kylesa vibe, an aural onslaught that will slay your senses as Davin Sosa’s drumming thunders and shakes yer bones. “Dream Flesh” really is a fever dream with scattered amplified accents as these serene vocals weave their way in an out of your head while “It Walks Among” serves as the antithesis of that dream jerking listeners awake with a monstrous and menacing rumble.
Strike the Sun concludes with two memorable bangers: “Unseen Hand” and “Futile Exile”. The former will absolutely clobber listeners over the head with a riff club but it’s “Futile Exile” that really hammers home the importance of the album as this seven minute sonic journey hits all the best gloom, doom, and sludge notes to create a truly incomparable closer.
Strike the Sun is out on July 7th via STB Records. A plethora of packages can be found here or you can forsake the physical format entirely and go digital by clicking here.