Sundrowned – Become Ethereal (Recommendation)

Some things just take time. This often used aphorism fits well in the case of Sundrowned’s debut album Become Ethereal.

At the end of 2020 I first took note of Sundrowned with the single “La Tristesse Durera Toujours“, the album release then was March 2021. March came and sadly there was no album. Now it is June 2021, but the album is finally here and it was well worth the time to put that first.

Become Ethereal is everything a Post-Black-Metal / Blackgaze or whatever you want to call the style of Black-Metal bands like Deafheaven or Alcest play, fan could wish for. What I really like about this, is the vocal delivery. It is very “throaty” and not the typical Black-Metal-shriek you know (a thing I like about Numenorean very much too).

Although there are a lot of blast-beats on that album, the most of the time one really has the feeling, that it is weightless. The blue cover, which was drawn in real time, while the band played the album, catches the mood perfectly.

“The Eternal” serves as quiet counterpart to the airy-aggression of what has happened before. The triplet “Ruins“, “Monarch” and “O Dom da Fé” finishes the album with everything that was to like about it. “Ruins” literally stomps through the clouds, “Monarch” blasts away merrily, while “O Dom da Fé” slowly and beautifully fades into oblivion.

Become ethereal while listening to Become Ethereal.