SardoniS

This Belgian instrumental doom-metal duo is guitarist Roel Paulussen and drummer Jelle Stevens. But within this album's opening sonic juggernaut, “Nero D'avola” (a version longer and better recorded than the one on its debut EP), Paulussen’s deep rumbling undertones come close to approximating a bass guitar’s. And though SardoniS is often compared to similarly heavy bands like Om, Sunn 0))), Thrones, Boris, and Melvins, it doesn't play long, drawn-out numbers like its contemporaries. The aptly titled “Thor” drops hammers of sonic sludge that—at less than three minutes—leaves listeners wanting more. The longest cut here stretches out to just over six and a half minutes. “It Walks the Mountain” starts like a slower version of Black Sabbath’s namesake tune from its 1970 eponymous album before igniting with the rumble of a rocket readying for liftoff. The pummeling of “The Wolf’s Lair” punches with a relentless rapid-fire rhythm, suggesting a hardcore-based musical past.