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SUSPERIA ‘Unlimited’ (Tabu Recordings) (2003)
I believe that 2004 is one of the most prosperous years for Metal music, and Susperia’s latest release "Unlimited"can only justify this statement of mine. I am ashamed to admit that I knew nothing of the band before receiving this promo, but in a way this ignorance of mine worked for my benefit. That’s because the feeling you get when discovering a band like Susperia is quite strong and makes you unable to describe it with words.
The band, originally named Seven Sins, was formed in 1998 by Tjodalv (Dimmu Borgir, Old Mans Child) and Cyrus (Session: Satyricon, Old Mans Child). The duet met their future vocalist Athera in 1999, while both were travelling to assist Mayhem with their show in Wacken. I don’t know what Athera expected to hear when he received a demo CD from Tjodalv, but the fact is that the strength of these recordings convinced him to join Susperia. Along came two of Athera’s ex-colleagues, Memnock and guitarist Elvorn, and the band’s line up was completed.
Based on Cyrus' and Tjodalv’s previous involvement in bands like Dimmu Borgir, Satyricon and Old Mans Child, you would expect Susperia to be another Norwegian atmospheric Black Metal band, but that’s definitely not the case. Here we have a classic Thrash Metal attack with strong Death Metal references, similar to the one Testament made in their masterpiece "The Gathering". The music press and their official site presents Susperia as "Pantera on speed, with Slayer in the backseat", and I definitely cannot disagree with that.
On the other hand I believe that by giving such a description to the band’s music, you allow people to believe that Susperia is one of these bands which will try to break through by "borrowing" the sound and style of the previously mentioned bands, and that’s definitely not the case.
Yes, it’s true that Susperia are influenced by megatherions such as Testament, Slayer and Pantera, but "Unlimited" is the result of the collaboration of five very talented musicians with a vision to create something so familiar, but at the same time quite unique.
"Unlimited" contains songs like "Chemistry" (also to be the band’s video for this album), "Situational Awareness" and the masterpiece "Home Sweet Hell" that even the previously mentioned giants would have loved to have been able to compose. Athera’s mesmerising voice reminded me of that of Chuck Billy’s (Testament’s frontman). As for the rest of the band: Supreme guitar work, and an amazing rhythm section, both of which contributed to making "Unlimited" a 45 minute masterpiece.
The album was recorded at Subsonic Studios in Oslo, and also at the infamous Studio Fredman (previously used by At The Gates and Soilwork), and the production was handled completely by the members of the band.
Having bands with the quality and vision of Susperia is an absolute necessity for Heavy Metal. Knowing that I believe that "Unlimited" is the album that all fans of quality Metal music should have in their collection.
As for me: I’m heading to the nearest record shop to see if I can get a hold of their previous two releases – wish me luck!
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Review by John Stefanis
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