ALBUM REVIEW: Sator - "Ordeal"

By: Ernesto Aguilar

Album Type: Full length

Date Released:01/09/2017

Label: Argonauta Records

Sator keeps you listening with its true-school doom vibe -- not sludge, not stoner, not psychedelic... straight-ahead doom that you've just got to admire.  "Ordeal" is an exemplary entry into the genre, and one that its fans may undoubtedly value.

"Ordeal" CD//DD track listing:

1. Heartache

2. Ordeal

3. Soulride

4. Sky Burial

5. Funeral Pyres

The Review:

Sator is, at first listen, one of those bands you have to step back from to appreciate. Many performers particularly in metal and genres with a devoted fan base face a similar issue. It is incredibly hard to make something that stands out. The conventions of the music are such that true distinctiveness is rare.

The Genoa, Italy trio debuted in 2015 with a self-titled release, drawing a myriad of comparisons including to Neurosis and early Eyehategod. Those are lofty comparisons, perhaps. However, on "Ordeal," Sator manages to buck expectations with an impressive array of guitar attacks that make the material feel energetic. Sator keeps you listening with its true-school doom vibe -- not sludge, not stoner, not psychedelic... straight-ahead doom that you've just got to admire.

"Heartache" opens the release and it is, unsurprisingly, one of the strongest tracks. With a deep bass and drum steering the cut and a titanic guitar riff in the mix, Sator make a good first impression. The vocals are rattling with distortion, which only rachets up the fearful aesthetic. This segues into the title track. The band wrings out of these low notes and turgid bass fixtures a song that, like many songs on the album, offers a story you have to listen for a second time. Part of that is just its atypical vision for arrangement. "Soulride" continues the listening journey and proves a worthy successor. Its start is positively massive in terms of chords, and Sator doesn't let up.

The vocal effects detract at times from the overall arrangement. On lessser recordings, such effects are done to mask deficiencies in range and tonality. You don't walk away with that impression here. Instead the production seems carefully chosen to mesh with the mood of "Ordeal." And what a dense and down mood it is. Every song's tempo gets slower, muddier and more despairing as the record continues. How songs are organized and the progression of feeling that comes with it is one of Sator's strongest points on the album. Tracks get more and more crushing as time moves on, and the result is so very satisfying.

The album closes with "Funeral Pyres," a 15-minute journey that is a smashing closer. While perhaps overlong -- the song would be equally good with 2-4 minutes trimmed away -- the group's willingness to see its concepts through, even when it might be easier to slice up something more accessible, is demonstrative of its commitment to a sincerely doom album. Throughout its peaks and valleys, the final song proves to be a showcase of Sator's best qualities and maybe areas of improvement. Nevertheless "Ordeal" is an exemplary entry into the genre, and one that its fans may undoubtedly value.

"Ordeal" is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook