Album Details

• Artist: Sourvein
• Album: Black Fangs
• Label: Candlelight
• Year of Release: 2011
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: patchen on 2011-04-19

What keeps Doom alive as a genre? Is it that there are always new colors to be found in the sustained echoing chord? Is it that people just respond viscerally to heavy, minor chords, no matter how they are delivered? Whatever. Bands still find ways of keeping doom healthy and surprising. Take Sourvein as the latest example. "Black Fangs" mines familiar territory, but yet manages to evoke some raw, satisfying emotions in the listener. They don't remake the doom-wheel, but they do add their unique dent in the rims.

The sludgy and grinding goodness kicks in right from the opening tracks. "Fangs" and "Society's Blood" set the tone immediately, with heavy bass, hard hypnotic riffs and a gritty but soulful growl from vocalist/guitarist T-Roy Medlin  that is somewhere between Jim Dandy and Varg. Yes, this sounds like familiar doom, and it is, but Sourvein mine it for their own statements. Where they move beyond  the pattern and stretch themselves is on tracks like "Gemini" and "Bleeding Charm," where the doom riff is jagged and needling, evolving into a kind of ambient bludgeon more often seen in black metal. Pretty stunning in these hands, though.

All ten songs on "Black Fangs" are satisfying both for the classic doom and experimental chops of the band. Sourvein is one of the best American doom bands, and shame on me for just learning that.

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