Kev Rowland This is the debut album from Swedish sludge/doom quartet Oro, who came together in 2014. ‘Djupets Kall’ (‘The Deep Call’) is an album which is combining elements from lots of different areas including post and black metal to create something which at times is incredibly beautiful and at others dark and foreboding. The bass sounds as if it is about to go out of tune at any moment as the strings are loose and distorted, while the drums pound into the brain and the guitars often create a leaden curtain of sound which doesn’t let any light escape. Petter Nilsson is in pain, crying in anguish with vocals which are coarse and laden with emotion, while the lead guitar solos are like laser beams cutting through the darkness. They may be slow and steady, but they provide just the right amount of dynamic contrast to the hurt and pain everyone is going through. Just one thing, the band just needs to understand it is never right to fade out a song, as that can’t happen when on stage so there has to be a way of ending it!

Classic Neurosis is the closest I can come to in terms of comparisons, but there are more Black and Post influences within it as the band are stretching the sludge/doom genres. Powerful, emotional, this is quite a debut. There is a great deal going on within it and it does need repeated listening to get the best from it, but overall this is a worthy journey.