This band asked me to write a review for their upcoming album... which hasn't happened to me before.
And I think its really cool.
To start, it should be said I have a... complicated relationship with anything that combines "black", or "blackened" with "crust". I have found that when you combine these two genres you lose the heaviness of the crust and the atmosphere of the black. I have not found a band that does it correctly yet... Until now...
Sardu, who hail from Barrie, Ontario, are a black/speed/crust band or, at least, I would call them that. I'm sure that Sardu would also fly under the Metalpunk banner. My only real issue with a lot of Metalpunk is that, and let's be truthful here, most of it just sounds like a mix of Motorhead and Discharge. I love those two bands. The first is my number one favorite band and was the reason I am listening to the heavier end of rock n roll music. I just think that we can distill some other influences into the music. Sardu does just that. They sound like putting Motorhead, Darkthrone, The Return... era Bathory, and Discharge in a high octane blender!
Standing at the Precipice is one beast of an album. It definitely can get you headbanging and fist pumping. But I think its at its best on the slow burners like The Vagrant and Dominion of Evil. One of the dudes in Gravewurm said in an interview, "You can't get the black metal feeling with blast beats." Well, I agree. Speed usually detracts from the dark atmosphere. This is a great record but when it slows down you get this great dark and threatening atmosphere. It helps really build that Mad Max/ post apocalyptic vibe and really holds up the black part of their descriptor very well!
In short, this is a kick ass, thundering record by a great up and coming band that everyone should pick up.
My favorite tracks are "The Vagrant" and "Dominion of Evil". But every track is excellent and just gritty as hell! Everyone who reads this blog should pick up this album in October when it comes out cause I will be! Until then check them out. www.facebook.com/sardudeathgang
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