Simply put, bands like The Sullen Route are very few and far between these days.

Their sound is somewhere between the more melodic and dark instrumental traits of Isis, and a uniquely delicate balance between their own debut’s surreal and intricate doom/death funereal atmospheres. On Apocalyclinic the band is less suffocating and abysmal, and leaves a lot of room to breathe although I can honestly say that they still maintain the musical embodiment of their name. The album as a whole makes me feel as if I’ve just abandoned society and it’s contentions and trekked off into the void destined to wander aimlessly in solitude, but more for an intellectual reason and enlightenment journey versus simply abandoning life and heading for self-inflicted misery.

The rhythms are very loose, slightly proggy/mathy, but still managing to avoid post-metal altogether in a way that keeps them distinctly dark and metal, that is PURELY metal ( … had to add that in for those that have a weak stomach for the so-called “weaker” and dare say “prettier” forms of METAL).

Overall the best way to describe Apocalyclinic is to say that it plays out the ideas of solitude and searching through sadness for something better versus the expected suicidal, frustrated, hopeless, and desperate ill-fated themes that go with “solitude” and “sadness” inspired creations. The vocals still maintain a hint of the painsokaed and deliberate impact of artists like Evoken, then there’s some raspy almost spoken word vocal parts that act almost as “clean”, but never do they stray away from the grim and intense style expected. The solo/melodic guitar work is so clean in places that it really triggers a respectful awe alongside a deep-rooted internal response to the mood they create. Even the riffs crash down in a skull shattering delivery upon the listener creating this inescapable force of being sucked into the vast blackness of where no standard soul would ever venture by choice.

The heavy steel laid down to open the opener, “Hysteria” gets you innervated for something anthemic and powerful than keeps it going strong with hints of the dark melodic prog metal of say Porcupine Tree, and I’d even say that there’s some definite similarities to bands like Russian Circles/Isis/Red Sparrows present. But even with the melodic and emotional tinge, the heart of this song and the album is absolutely bleeding and turning to stone over time, it’s gloom metal as opposed to Doom metal.

“Burial Ground” is a melodic and down-tuned bulldozer pure and simple. Aside from the chugging, sometimes shredding riffs, the band still manages to not only have this haunting western/desert guitar melody behind the mix that brings to mind more of a vision of a graveyard in the middle of Death Valley, with an interesting and yet unknown history to it. It has some “The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly” in it, but the way the band lays it down without ever going too “emo” or technical really captures the listener in the saga that is the song itself and drowns them as a result. Songs like “Dune” even have a killer steel/slide guitar intro that aids in the experience of wandering through the desert, which is what you really feel as if you’re doing as you listen to this album through it’s entirety. It’s a very “lost in the American desert along a dusty and barren highway” envisioning track with a hearty dose of great metal riffing and arpeggiated technicality.

So in summary, this is a masterful and unique experience that shows how an already solid band can continue to evolve as can metal and it’s sub-genres into something timeless instead of being yet another white elephant. Most of us have such little cash to burn on buying everything that comes out, so why buy more albums of the same old shit when you can get something (singular) that you will actually enjoy and remember… it makes more cents, doesn’t it?

Seriously, I can’t pull myself away from this one to review the others, it’s just that intense and heavy. I really look forward to hearing more from this Russian band in the near future, this is seriously hypnotic and intoxicating stuff to listen to.

Fans of: Evoken, Solitude Aeturnus, Isis, While Heaven Wept, Mirror of Deception.

Seriously check them out at their website and also on YouTube (They have “Dune” and “Hysteria”)

Author: Janet Willis

Madness of My Own Design starts off promisingly, seeming to be a doom album with dynamics and energy. However, about three to four songs in, the album reveals itself to be one of those doom albums that is slow and doom for the sake of being such, and not for the sake of providing outstanding music. The music is standard and tepidly inspired at best, with unremarkable compositions that blend all too quickly into the same faceless listening experience.

The sound is powerful, but some piercingly high frequencies give the music a sense of agitation that seems out of place, while the kick drum has a bit of that bouncing basketball sound, where a much lower thud might have served The Sullen Route’s cause much better. The vocals are low and brutal, but like every other aspect of Madness of My Own Design, blend all too quickly into the obscurity of flavorless exercise.

Author: Roberto Martinelli

Yeah, you all know what this is, where it comes from, and why it kicks ass… It’s another winner from the Russian doom label. This time around, though, it’s amazing to me how simplistic the guitar work is making up the framework, but it conveys the melancholic and serene atmosphere SO well. The opener ‘Dagon’ (well fuck! They had me RIGHT THERE with that song title) has quite interesting opening guitar riffs, they’re high ended and slightly fuzzed out. And of course a highlight of this entire disc is the high ended guitar notes. The one thing that did catch me off guard was the odd sound coming from the double bass pedals; this isn’t REALLY a problem until CD ender ‘One Way For Burning,’ when the heavier guitar work is accentuated by faster double bass drumming. Anyway, followup ‘Gates’ had the oddest guitar riffs, they sounded ALMOST like they were out of tune, but they were really catchy as well; I wonder if this was done on purpose! Dark & solitary acoustic guitars start off ‘I Come With The Rain,’ and the on/off riff patterns were quite nice. Spoken vocal passages pop up a few times on this album; tastefully done and not overused. ‘My Autumn Call’ keeps it simple but has nice high ended guitar notes, and it’s here that I noticed for the first time how tortured the death metal styled vocals sound; it’s not your atypical growl and seems to add a sense of pain into the proceedings. There’s TONS of solo instrumentation (IE, no vocal passages) on many of the tracks, however I think with the ten minute CD ender ‘One Way For Burning,’ there might have been a bit too much, especially since on that particular track, a minute or so of guitar patterns seemed very off. And the track before it ‘No Memories, No Matter’ had some solitary guitar work that seemed like it could have used more fleshing out. The rest of the tracks blew me away, especially the cut ‘Sullen Route’ which was a 5 minute instrumental, but managed to hold my interest the entire time (it helped that there was a beautiful set of acoustic like guitars at the halfway point. Things start to sound a little similar by tracks 7 and especially 8, but all in all it’s not the atypical doom/death thing, opting to throw a few curveballs here and there. The atmosphere’s the thing though, and simplistic though those riffs may be, they create TONS of melody and ambience to a CD that has just the right riffs in all the right places. Can’t wait for the next full length!

Achtung, Achtung: Es wurde soeben eine gewaltige, von Osten her wandernde Sanddüne ausgemacht! Namentlich ist dieses Phänomen unter „Madness Of My Own Design“ und dessen Verursacher als THE SULLEN ROUTE bekannt. Absolut zerstörerisch mit Monster -Growls und hypnotischem Riffing ausgestattet, rieselt dieser 8 Tracker der jungen Russen Elijah (voc), Serge (guit), Max (guit), Helen (bass) und Alexis (drums) wahrhaft staubtrocken aus den Membranen. Dabei weht ein minimaler Hauch von Stonersound, der allerdings nicht im entferntesten Frohsinn oder gute Laune zu verbreiten versucht, durch die Wüstenluft und auch ansatzweise psychodelisch-melancholische Anleihen sind zu vernehmen. Treffend bebildert wird die musikalische Einöde mit einem stilgerechten Coverartwork, welches mit menschenleeren Landschaften, sowie vom Sande verwehten Fahrzeugen und Gleisanlagen den Zustand unheilvoller Desertifikation eindrucksvoll dokumentiert. Somit haben die 5 Wolgograder ein fettes Debütpaket geschnürt, dass mir abgesehen von den für mein Empfinden etwas zu abrupt endenden Songs, einen ähnlich treibsandartigen und niederdrückenden Zustand beschert, wie der „ober-runterziehende“ Meilenstein „Erosion“ aus dem Hause PROCESS OF GUILT!

Fazit: DESTRUCTIVE DESERT DEATH DOOM AT ITS BEST!!

Author: Slowmas

La dénomination du groupe ou son étiquette peut parfois prêter à confusion, cela arrive même trop souvent. Pour THE SULLEN ROUTE, on m’annonce un Doom/Death à la Ataraxie, les Portugais de Process of Guilt font aussi référence. Personnellement je veux le croire volontiers, d’autant plus que j’ai confiance en Solitude Prod. qui a une très bonne réputation dans le milieu underground doomesque et qui m’envoie comme d’habitude des vrais cds et pas des Ipools (bon là je pense que le message est passé, toi lecteur assidu de mes chroniques).

Revenons à notre sujet, notre fantastique Doom/Death comme ils disent nos p’tits Russes favoris. Sauf que moi, je ne vois pas ça pareil, leur soi-disant Doom/Death lorgne beaucoup vers le Death lent, mais pas vers du Doom. Stupeur dans la cage neuronale du haricot, bah mince, on m’aurait menti – dixit le vélo fou vitaminé de Virenque-.

Certes, des phases lentes parcourent la galette mais jamais de manière pachydermique ou terrifiante comme sur le premier album d’Ataraxie. Pas mal de passages trop rapides pour moi et pour être catalogué de la sorte. Pourtant, quand le tempo ralentit, on voit apparaître quelques relents poisseux Sludge qui ne sont pas faits pour me déplaire. Quant aux passages rapides, bien que très maîtrisés, ils ne créent pas l’alchimie d’un groupe de Doom qui accélère le tempo.

Pour ce qui est des mélodies, nos Russes misent avant tout sur elles pour essayer de conquérir l’auditoire. Parfois redondantes, parfois d’un formalisme assez déconcertant ou abrasives et belles, comme à l’image d’un Gate ou d’un I Come With the Rain. De belles douceurs sont ici développées avec brio. Des élans peuvent être incompris de ma carcasse et gâchent une bonne écoute, tant par leur longueur outrancière, comme sur le titre éponyme Sullen Route qui a le don de me faire sortir de l’écoute à chaque fois à cause de certaines notes qui me paraissent fausses et mal jouées. Pourtant ce disque n’a pas que des points faibles, bien au contraire. D’ailleurs un de ses gros points forts se situe au niveau du chant, grave à souhait, granuleux, abrasif, percutant. Le cd jouit aussi d’un excellent son et d’une bonne maîtrise technique (mises à part les dites fausses notes sur un morceau).

Difficile de vous conseiller d’acheter ce cd. Ne faites pas comme moi en voyant l’annonce publicitaire du label, et en sautant dessus sans en écouter la moindre parcelle. Avec huit titres pour vous décider vous devriez soit aimer, soit détester, mais il n’y aura pas de juste milieu.

Author: Haricot magic

Для любого исполнителя, тем боле начинающего самое важное – что скажет слушатель, а не что написано в той или иной рецензии, насколько часто их альбом появляется в обсуждении на порталах, или с каким количеством знаменитых зарубежных коллег их сравнят. А слушатель уже скажет, купив этот альбом (всем же все равно, по сути, что он дальше с ним сделает). Вот, о группе The Sullen Route родом из Волгограда, любой достаточно опытный слушатель скажет, что это почти классический doom death полностью гитарного происхождения с хорошим “жирным” звуком, низкими риффами одной гитары и меланхоличными, протяжными, стонущими мелодиями, тянущимися вслед за второй гитарой, в сопровождении сырого, горлового гроула, примерно одной тональности и вяловатыми ударными. Многие ответят, что он похож на сонм групп сыгравших все аккорды в данном стиле до них, но при конкретном вопросе: “каких?”, непременно начнут запинаться, пытаясь выцедить известные им названия. В итоге вы наверняка получите полный исторически верный набор наименований исполнителей – совершенно верно, получите. Ведь россияне набрали ото всех понемногу, начиная от тех самых My Dying Bride, продолжая Paradise Lost, взбираясь на современные подступы к Mourning Beloveth, цепляя шведо-финские настроения дождливых мелодий, разбирая по косточкам бетонирующие слои с Morgion и восточно-европейскими группами. Проще выражаясь, The Sullen Route это сборная солянка стиля в миниатюре, но пока еще в выражениях начинающего.

Тут местами слегка проседает звук, выпростав из-под полы, плохо состыкованные звуки при одиноких переходах необработанной соло гитары в не менее сырой ритмический рисунок, и это не задумка для усиления эффекта, а недоработка записи. Иногда вокал словно срывается с монументального, грозного постамента, опускаясь на грешную землю, переставая впечатлять. В развитие мелодических линий кое-где мелькают остатки юношеского логоневроза, где соло гитара секунду другую раздумывает, последовать ли прежним путем, или выбрать новый. Практически нет на альбоме ускорений или утяжеления звучания – они выражаются в выключении второго гитариста из процесса, засушивание музыки, что естественно влияет на интерес. И хвала музыкантам, что их звучание выбирает моменты для затишья, когда можно путем сравнения, все-таки выделить некоторое разнообразие композиционного построения. Мы подошли к главному: в альбоме “Madness Of My Own Design” нет ни капли оригинальности… даже название коллектива могло светиться наплывной модной обыденностью, если бы осталось симметричным первой песне. Среди всех треков в некоторой степени выделяются те, что решили оставить в себе, не самые типичные перекликающиеся акустические щипки и тремоло, тем не менее, на “Sullen Route”, “Madness Of My Own Design” вносящие лишь требуемое для хорошего прослушивания, не более. Порой мниться, что за не большой длительностью скрывается бедность идей (а ведь в череде монотонных, следующих друг за другом, без намека на драматургию гармонических решений искать ее очень не хочется), впрочем, лучший, эпический трек “One Way For Burning” с оптимистичным настроем на будущее группы, после которого предлагаю вам самим, слушателям, сказать свое слово в отношении волгоградской группы.

Author: Maliceth aka Алк.

Anyone who knows a more productive Doom Metal-oriented label than “Solitude Productions” can throw a stone in my direction. This time this Russian labels offers one more band from its native land, The Sullen Route. This Volgograd-based quintet presents their debut album, “Madness of my own Design”, consisting of eight melancholic melodies.
This time The Sullen Route deals with a little rougher Death/Doom Metal. I’m sure that the album would be admired by fans of grimmer, more underground Doom like Dissolving of Prodigy. On the other hand, the project may be ranked on the same shelf with Saturnus or Mourning Beloveth. The music is melancholic, really dark, with touches of cold streams. The vocals are rather brutal, though the music contains more emotional and sad feelings, as it should, shouldn’t it?
The album starts with a really mature and heavy sounding song “Dagon”. However, the further you go the more monotonous music reaches our ears. But still, the album is interesting, really strong and attractive. I’d love to hear clearer bass lines. The drums are solid, though not anything special. But the riffs are okay, the melodic parts are not sweet, and that is the attractive point for the lovers of rawer music. In general, “Madness of my own Design”, is a solid album combining Melodic and rougher Death/Doom Metal. This is a strong start for a promising band, which still has to find an original and exclusive direction.

Author: Odium

Il freddo gelido dell’inverno sferza ancora il mio viso con questa release targata Solitude Productions. Questa volta si tratta dei russi The Sullen Route e del loro melodico death doom che ne segna il debutto. A differenza di altri act dell’etichetta d’oltre cortina, questo quintetto, che vede tra l’altro al basso una bellissima ragazza bionda, si dimostra abbastanza acerbo e con idee ancora del tutto da sviluppare, ma sono fiducioso per il loro futuro. Il sound dei ragazzi di Volgograd, formatisi nel 2008, trae spunto ancora una volta dai maestri del genere, My Dying Bride e Mourning Beloveth su tutti. Già dall’iniziale “Dagon”, l’ensemble dà sfoggio della loro forte propensione per melodie malinconie, pesanti e rarefatte, mancando però di quel pizzico di sfrontatezza, intraprendenza e personalità che solitamente contraddistingue tutte le band della label di Orel. La seconda traccia, “Gates” è già un po’ meglio, pescando un po’ alla rinfusa dalle produzioni di Saturnus, Officium Triste e dalla discografia della già citata band irlandese ma nonostante il tentativo di seguire le orme dei maestri del genere, il disco continua a stentare a decollare, risultando troppo spesso ripetitivo nel proporre determinati schemi musicali. Insomma, serve un po’ più di verve o qualche altra trovata per cercare di rinvigorire un sound che talvolta puzza fin troppo di stantio. I nostri ci provano cercando la soluzione in una qualche parte arpeggiata, come accade in “I Come with the Rain” o in una qualche ambientazione notturna o simil autunnale, ma per il momento la classe risiede ahimè da qualche altra parte. Il sound continua a patire la propria pesantezza come quella di un pachiderma seduto incapace di camminare. La musica procede lentamente nel suo incedere anche nelle successive songs, con il growling profondo di Elijah a sostenere il funereo death doom di questo, ahimè poco dinamico, “Madness of my Own Design”. Ci prova la title track a regalare qualche momento di vivacità col suo suono elementare ma efficace e il risultato è più che soddisfacente. L’album prosegue nel suo torpore fino alla conclusiva “One Way for Burning”, forse la song più originale e atmosferica del lotto (senza dubbio la più lunga con i suoi 10 minuti e passa). La band dovrebbe scrollarsi di dosso un po’ delle pesanti influenze che ne contraddistinguono il sound e cercare di articolare un po’ più le proprie composizioni per poter catturare al meglio l’ascoltatore altrimenti il fortissimo rischio è quello di nausearsi velocemente della loro proposta. Da rivalutare al prossimo lavoro. Comunque promossi.

Author: Francesco Scarci

The Russian doom scene always surprises me. The ever busy Solitude Productions is constantly churning out doom records from all over Europe, and of course not everything they distribute is of high quality. The biggest gripe I have with Russian doom (and this can also extend to a lot of Eastern European countries) is the obsession they have with mediocre and clichéd gothic elements, which have ruined (at least for me) many bands who seem to have potential to do greater things. On the other hand, there are some bands that still adhere to European doom characteristics (themes and moods of melancholy and depression) without coming off as lame, and The Sullen Route is one of them. Much like country mates Otkroveniya Dozhdya (who have a new album out this year), The Sullen Route are more riff oriented and do not languish in horribly accented spoken word passages with tidal waves of synth and a programmed orchestra. Actually, there are some spoken word passages, but thankfully they are not abundant. However, if you can get past The Sullen Route’s awful band name, album name, song names and lyrics, you will actually find it to be a really great death/doom record.

What is essentially the sole driving force of Madness of My Own Design is the song-writing – every track is full of catchy and hook-laden riffs, regardless of their tempo. Some passages are slower and invoke mournful feelings whereas others follow a more bombastic rhythm, yet still sticking closely to a very melodic template. Any fans of groups like Mourning Beloveth or even Ophis will undoubtedly have some fun with this record. Moreover, the fact that the mix is a little unpolished lends itself to a more modest atmosphere, rather than the clinical and artificial sound that a lot of melodic death/doom groups (particularly from Europe) are inclined towards. The vocals are deep gutturals which fit very well with the music here, but their pitch almost never varies, if one excludes the few (unfortunate) instances of spoken word. Nevertheless, just like the static form of the vocals, the music itself does not go beyond its boundaries, but it is for this reason that the record is so enjoyable – it delivers appealing and memorable riffs in a coherent and organised way, with each song being as good as the rest in one way or another. If you’re a fan of any of the bands mentioned previously, as well the likes of Ataraxie, Inborn Suffering, early My Dying Bride (essentially any European melodic death/doom), then becoming familiar with Madness of My Own Design is an entirely good idea.

Author: Berkay Erkan

Arrivano da uno sperduto angolo della Russia meridionale tra il mar Nero ed il mar Caspio questi The Sullen Route, ennesima band proposta dalla sempre intraprendente Solitude Production. La band, all’esordio assoluto con questo “Madness Of My Own Design”, propone un doom death mai troppo estremo e con degli sporadici rimandi al gothic doom albionico. I nomi più noti che vengono alla mente sono quelli degli immancabili My Dying Bride, Swallow The Sun e Draconian, senza scordare un pizzico di Katatonia che non guasta mai. I russi però non riescono a riattualizzare sonorità piuttosto vecchie, né riescono a disegnare trame interessanti per quanto derivative. Il loro songwriting è infatti semplice e lineare, l’esecuzione è ancora acerba e, come se non bastasse, anche la produzione contribuisce a rovesciare sul prodotto un’aura amatoriale. A completare il quadro, i ragazzi inseriscono in track list un brano, “I Come With The Rain”, della durata di trentasei minuti, durante il quale si alternano partiture death doom dozzinali e arpeggi darkeggianti scolastici. Inutile dire che non si esce vivi da questo polpettone. Anche negli episodi più brevi (mai sotto i cinque minuti, comunque), le cose che saltano all’orecchio sono la mancanza di creatività e/o di capacità compositive che possano ovviare ad essa. Tutti i brani sono più o meno uguali, suonati da un manipolo di ragazzi volenterosi ma ancora indietro tecnicamente. Sinceramente non ci aspettavamo un simile scivolone da parte della Solitude, solitamente label piuttosto attenta e preparata in campo doom et similia. Magari la band crescerà con gli anni, magari mancano ancora della necessaria esperienza ed amalgama per proporre musica che di base deve essere emozionale e profonda, ma di certo questo “Madness Of My Own Design” non sarà mai un album degno di essere ricordato.