ALBUM REVIEW: Sativa Root - "Oneiroid"

By: Ernesto Aguilar

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released:17/02/2018

Label: Marijunaut Records

Sativa Root manages to sound fresh and original, doing a doom and sludge infused sound that seems more methodical and strong than meditative. The absolutely ripping "Morlock" makes it clear Sativa Root is worth checking out if you get a chance to see them live. Powerful stuff.

“Oneiroid” CD//DD track listing

1. Intro

2. Bloodrigs

3. Funeral of the Witch

4. Deathclaw

5. Tabarnak

6. Morlock

The Review:

2018 has begun with the announcement of a slew of zombie films. Day of the Dead: Bloodline, Patient Zero, The Forest of Hands and Teethand the Rise of the Living Dead are just four of the movies joining World War Z 2 this year. This horror genre is polarizing – you love it, or you hate it – but it is indisputably popular worldwide with audiences. And the latest evolution, spawned largely by 28 Days Later, of chaotic, sprinting monsters, is similarly rattling – not just because such is a departure for creator George A. Romero's vision, but because the very idea of flesh-eating furies chasing you at full gallop and stoppable only with headshots feels completely disturbing. Shambling undead are the stuff of black and white movies. Raving beasts are the stuff of colorful nightmares.

If you close your eyes and think of one of these new incarnations on film, with snarling, scrambling dirt-and-blood-covered maniacs coming for you, it is a guarantee that the zombie apocalypse would be soundtracked by "Oneiroid," the new album by Sativa Root.

Instrumental metal is arguably some of the purest of extreme music out there, because it is solely about the concoctions the bands put together. Mood is determined by your imagination rather than lyrics. With Austrian doom/sludge trio Sativa Root, the music is some of the more immersive metal you will find, as it is absolutely claustrophobic from "Bloodrigs" (the introductory cut is ultra-short) onward. Power chords, massive drums and muddy bass rule the day from the start, and then into "Funeral of the Witch."

There are many really great instrumental metal acts – Major Kong pops to mind immediately – and Sativa Root takes its place among them, putting in impressive work on "Deathclaw." Similarly, a track like "Tabarnak" is immense in the ground it covers and the sheer quality of what the band offers. Sativa Root manages to sound fresh and original, doing a doom and sludge infused sound that seems more methodical and strong than meditative. The absolutely ripping "Morlock" makes it clear Sativa Root is worth checking out if you get a chance to see them live. Powerful stuff.

"Oneiroid"is available here:

Band info: bandcamp || facebook