Herem are a sludge metal band from Finland. This is their third album.
Ahh, heavy, sludgy doom. Always a pleasure to make your acquaintance.
Deep deathgrowls are backed up by serrated screams; both are very ably performed and both get the job done nicely. The singer’s voice seems finely-tuned for this kind of music and as you work through the 40 minutes on III her voice never disappoints. Male clean vocals appear on Edge of the World too, which work well, especially so as they are not overused.
The music is heavy, (as mentioned earlier), and has a nice mix of doom and sludge, meaning that although they play slow for most of the time, they’re not above ramping things up on occasion.
Solos and leads are frequent and pleasing; these are worked into the fabric of the rhythm guitars and seem to wind around them like a constricting snake.
Moments of post-metal and psychedelia are nicely incorporated into the music, adding much as it goes along. Add to this the kind of confidently rustic Southern swagger that Dopethrone do so well, as well as some stoner rock influences, and you have a very well-rounded and enjoyable release.
Heavy sludge with rocking good tunes? Hell yes!
I really like how all of these extra influences manifest in the realisation of the songwriting. Too many bands that play this kind of music simply ape the template laid down by their Eyehategod masters. Herem, however, add these other elements into their sound in such an easy-going natural way that nothing sounds even remotely forced. The end result is a collection of songs that the band have managed to personalise much more than a lot of sludge bands end up doing.
III is an extremely enjoyable listen, one that’s easily capable of flooring the listener with its heaviness, but even more impressive is its ability to pull them in with its depth and dark textures.
An impressive listen, make sure you check this out.
Wonderbox Metal 