Herem – II (2011)

Delivering six crushing Death/Doom Metal tracks, today we have Herem and their very well crafted second full-length release titled “II”. For around 45 minutes the band delivers excruciatingly painful and devastating music unlike any other band these days. Mixing a beefy Death/Doom sound with some Sludge influences and some experimental elements, the band reminded us a bit like Frothy Days Longing, an American band that played a similar style and was also led by a female growler.

Opening with the hypnotic “Heavens”, the 90’s Death/Doom sound is immediately present and while the growls sound a bit different than you typical ones, Valendis Suomalainen does one hell of a job in sounding very brutal and powerful. The riffing is very powerful and the production perfectly accentuates the distorted guitars. The experimentally ethereal entrance to “Earth” generates a very interesting atmosphere that is nicely ‘culminated’ with powerful riffs and some very deep and disturbing (in a good way) growls.

“Dogs of Doom” delivers a somewhat different track since it has some very effective clean (female) vocals that are nicely contrasted by the growls and the quintessentially traditional Doom Metal riff assault. After this slow but sweet track we have “Promise” and “Water” delivering more Death/Doom medicine that is so much needed these days when many bands in the genre are just trying to clone the greats and never focus in creating their own characteristic sound like Herem.

Our favorite track is the closing “Babaylon”. In this track the band explores with some clean guitars at the beginning and fully develops back into the black monolithic wall of Death/Doom that is the band’s sound. However, in terms of guitar work this track is far superior to the rest due to its more intricate nature and diverse approach. For around 11 minutes this song will surely break you down and make this band one of your favorite ones.

We really have to say that “II” is by far one of the best Death/Doom albums we have heard from 2011. Too bad we did not receive the promo before and, allowed us to place this release in our ‘top 10 Death/Doom albums from a few years back. If you are in the market for some crushing Death/Doom, look no further and get this little gem from Inverse’s records website, we guarantee you will not be disappointed.

Release: November 9th, 2011

Country: Finland