Suma - Ashes (2010)

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Suma - Ashes (2010)

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A massive slab of crushing doom

It’s easy to forget just how much of an influence Neurosis has actually had on heavy music until you encounter a band that evokes that instantly recognisable Neurosis sound like Sweden’s Suma do. Don’t see this observation as a casting of aspersions on Suma however but rather as a compliment because, even though they do channel the familiar sound pioneered by Neurosis, they are far from copycats and instead use the style as a building block from which to construct their brand of crushingly heavy doom.

The use of percussion as a primary instrument in the doom genre isn’t exactly something out of the ordinary these days but it is still just rare enough to make an impact when it is done (correctly that is). Suma appear to be acutely aware of this fact by making excellent use of drummer Erik to create the weighty underpinning of the material on Ashes, much in the same way the tribally inspired percussion drove the material on Neurosis’ Through Silver in Blood album for example. The sound of the drums themselves is utterly massive and features prominently in the mix with not only a spacious and open quality but also with just enough reverb to really allow those slow and plodding beats to ring out and forge the monstrous atmosphere that is such an important aspect of the album as a whole.

In true doom style the five songs on offer have an average running time of around 12 minutes each (though there are two tracks that run shy of 10 minutes) and are driven by powerful riffs of a breadth and scope befitting the length of the tracks they comprise, frequently channelling a drone-like quality though not at the expense of actual musicality and effective melodic progression. It is hardly unheard of to have tracks that run for 15 odd minutes within the genre but it is a much rarer skill to be able to compose material that can span that duration without resorting to needless repetition or padding and, thankfully, Suma are on the top of their game in this regard with the album never once feeling as though it has outstayed its welcome. There is a natural order to things on Ashes and Suma appears to be consciously aware of it at all times and it’s actually quite a testament to the band that they can take an album of such considerable length and leave the listener not wanting the experience to end once it has finished playing.

In spite of the expansive and massively slow and weighty atmosphere on Ashes there is, conversely, an underlying urgency that exists just below the surface that is, perhaps, one of the reasons the pacing and playability of the album are both so strong. Vocalist Jovan is the major stoker of this particular fire, not only through his performance and style which is of the not quite screaming but kind of yelling variety but also through the placement of his vocals in the mix, sitting at a level that gives the impression that he is straining to be heard above the aural onslaught that is threatening to swallow him up without warning.

While technically it’s true that what Suma are doing within the doom genre isn’t exactly revolutionary it’s somewhat of a moot point when you consider just how well they actually do it. Originality is a rare commodity these days and is ultimately irrelevant when staring into the face of a collection of songs as good as the ones Suma have compiled on Ashes.

-Michael O'Brien, themetalforge.com