Sur Austru - Datura Strǎhiarelor

Angry Metal Guy 70

Sur Austru was an exciting find for me back in 2021. Their sophomore full-length Obârșie is a stunning display of mystical, folky black metal that is as evocative as it is unique. I still return to it often, so I was naturally very excited to learn that the group, originally formed in 2018 following the tragic passing of Gabriel Mafa (Negură Bunget, from where much of the rest of the band hails), is releasing a third full-length called Datura Strǎhiarelor (“The Gift of Scarecrows”), to carry on the unique and bright torch that is Romanian black metal. But Datura Strǎhiarelor is a much different beast from its predecessor—could it be that’s actually a good thing?

All of the hallmarks of Sur Austru’s sound are present on Datura Strǎhiarelor—heavy guitars, haunting flutes, and lyrics in Romanian, both sung and growled. The album’s concept, written by Călin Miclauș, focuses on the end of the world as told in Romanian mythology. The language is gorgeous and works well with the music to tell the story, even for an audience that largely, I would imagine, can’t understand the story. Across the album’s longer songs (“Cele Brune,” “Ispravirea”), this sense of storytelling comes alive in the best possible way, and it’s here that Sur Austru is at their most familiar, and their most powerful. Similarly, “Stransura” is classic Sur Austru, with lush drumming, ethereal keys, and an epic, haunting feel that builds throughout the whole before introducing an awesome lead on flutes to close the track. In this way, Datura Strǎhiarelor feels like a natural and powerful successor to Obârșie.

Datura Străhiarelor by Sur Austru

What’s different about Datura Strǎhiarelor is its significantly more progressive feel compared to Sur Austru’s contemporaries and previous releases, and that it is only really a black metal album in its dark and atmospheric feel. No one told drummer Beni Ursulescu about that though—throughout, his drumming is lush and complex, breathing liveliness into the record and fighting for that categorization. Aside from this, there’s the occasional tremolo, as on “Farmacarea,” where the guitars and woodblock (Călin Puticiu) work very well together, and of course Tibor Kati’s harsh vocals are strong, but that’s really about it. Instead, flutes and keys from Ionut Cadariu dominate, with heavy support from Ovidiu Corodan’s bass (which sounds amazing, by the way). On “Cele Bune,” every element of Sur Austru’s extensive sound bank works together gorgeously, but with a greater emphasis on feel, story, and melody than riffs, tremolos, or other traditionally black metal elements. The result is a sound that treads a line between progressive, folk, and black metal, with guitars just high enough in the mix to create impact without taking away from everything else going on.

As a result, Datura Strǎhiarelor becomes an album that thrives or stalls based on its flow. The performances and songwriting are very strong, but over the course of the fifty-four-minute whole, there are some moments that shine noticeably brighter than others. “Cele Rele,” for example, makes an earnest effort to be a “heavy” song, but doesn’t succeed in creating momentum. It has good moments, especially the flute section towards the end, but isn’t very memorable, even with six minutes of stuff inside it. Further, towards the end of the album, there are a lot of songs that sound like they should be the end of the album—the ambient outros in “Cele Bune” and “Afurisirea,” the epic build that opens “Imparecherea,” and the awesome build that actually does close out the album in “Ispravirea.” This, along with the fact that the album’s two interlude tracks are both passed by track four, creates an illusion that Datura Strǎhiarelo is longer than it actually is.

The good news is that the album’s trajectory moves between exceptional and “just” good. Throughout Datura Strǎhiarelor, Sur Austru demonstrate that they are fully attuned with their own sound, and are superb performers and songwriters in a musical style that feels fresh and new (at least outside of their native Romania). Despite some stalling throughout, Datura Strǎhiarelor shows a promising direction for the band; it is a very good example of how to do storytelling in metal, and how to make the listener feel. I can’t wait to see where they go from here.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Avantgarde Music
Websites: avantgardemusic.bandcamp.com/album/datura-str-hiarelor | facebook.com/SurAustruOfficial
Releases Worldwide: August 30th, 2024

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