Saros

Saros' debut sees Profound Lore's tendency to release strong black and doom metal offerings continue unabated. While they borrow heavily from other established acts, the way things come together on Acrid Plains is what sets it apart from the seemingly endless barrage of basement black metal releases. However, labelling it black metal is somewhat misleading, as Saros draw more from the expansive neo-folk influence of Agalloch and the pagan psychedelia of Enslaved's recent efforts. This already solid foundation is garnished with tasteful clean female vocal inclusions, Eastern-inspired leads and the occasional full-on Bay Area thrash attack, keeping their sound aggressive and focused while allowing more than enough room for experimentation. If there are any faults here they are the group's unoriginality and rather detached approach. Many of the riffs draw too heavily from other established acts that made careers out of their dismissal of genre conventions. Nonetheless, Saros deserve a place in the collections of those looking for a well above-average fusion of a handful of styles previously explored yet rarely delivered as effectively.