The two-man Belgian sludge metal/stoner doom band Sardonis came out with a great new album this year. The album is laconically titled III and doesn't stray from the path of heavy sludge battery that this Belgian two-man band has been following for years on end. You could say Sardonis are one of the few no-nonsense sludge metal/stoner doom bands that always deliver the same kind of crushing yet very catchy riffage and heavy percussion battery that never disappoints. In a way they also remind the other two man sludge/doom band Eagle Twin.
The first track on the new album is titled The Coming of the Khan, and this Khan surely crushes everyone on its path. The track starts off with echo filled guitars that lead to some fast-paced sludge metal battery and riffage. All of which in turn leads up to one of the best stoner doom/sludge riffs I have heared in a long while. This is a Khan that slays all. The second track Battering-Ram follows the same recipe, but is much more crushing in a slow doom sense. Roaming Valley starts off with the same kind of heavy doom or even drone doom structure that leads of up to some faster sludgy riffage. Ruined/Decay sounds like the usual kind of Sardonis known well from many of the albums before III, and is thus a very welcome track filled with juicy riffage that mixes fast paced sludge with slow drone doom heavyness and packs another extremely catchy stoner doom riff that one could listen to for hours on end if not for the monumental Path Forward to Abyss, which in an epic manner finishes off this fine album.
All in all III from Sardonis is one of the best sludge metal/stoner doom releases of 2015, and as is the case with Sardonis then it simply does not disappoint and wander off its praiseworthy path. Just like Stoke City on a cold Novembers evening, the no-nonsense Sardonis are not something to mess with.
Some useful links:
Bandcamp: https://sardonis.bandcamp.com/album/iii
Discogs: http://www.discogs.com/artist/1218803-Sardonis
Last.fm: http://www.last.fm/music/Sardonis
