Psychonaut / Sâver - Emerald (2021)

Featuring two of the most interesting and genre bending bands in Pelagic Records roster: Psychonaut and Sâver, “Emerald” is a massive 35-minute long EP. With each band doing just one long song, we get to perfectly enjoy the moody Post-Metal antics of Belgium’s Psychonaut, and the lush atmospheric intro to the punishing sound of Sâver. If you like Post-Metal and adjacent styles, you can’t miss out on this

Opening with the introspective and slow-building “The Great Realization”, we get a very nice warmup to when the vocal arrangements quick in and the tempo changes go in full effect. This gives a certain dreamy and mellow effect that suddenly transforms with waves of heavy riffs and harsh vocals. The band’ perfect timing and elegant evolution creates very lively and mellow passages that are nicely contrasted with more dominant and loud yet also melodic sections.

Sâver’s piece, “Dimensions Lost, Obscured By Aeons”, relies a bit more on setting their atmosphere slowly with hypnotic chugging guitar riffs. While the band’s sound settles, we can’t shy away from their gargantuan sludgy riffs and crafty execution. This track is a bit less quality than the first one, but equally, it is all about contrast, solid instrumentation and aggressive vocals.

Overall, “Emerald” is one powerful release that showcases around 90% of the awesomeness of Psychonaut and their music, alongside Sâver’s unique weirdness and also heaviness. For over 35 minutes our mind was completely immersed in this release, thanks to the very high quality of the production and the band’s uniqueness. If you are feeling adventurous and want to feel the power of atmosphere and heavy riffs for a while, “Emerald” offers a solid experience and perfect introduction to two excellent bands you might not be aware of.

Label: Pelagic Records

Release: May 14th, 2021

Genre: Sludge/Post Metal / Post-Metal

Country: Belgium / Norway