UMUR "S.U.S.A.R" is the debut full-length studio album by Polish progressive rock act Indukti. The album was released through the independent label Off the Records in September 2004, but saw an international release through The Laser's Edge in September 2005. Indukti was originally founded under the Vein monicker, but changed their name to Indukti in 1999. They´ve released a demo and a couple of independent EPs before the release of this album.

The music on the album is predominantly instrumental prog rock with slight metal leanings. The metal elements are reduced to the occasional power chord metal riff section, so it´s not a dominant part of the band´s music. In that respect Indukti reminds me of another contemporary Polish act in Riverside who also plays progressive rock with occassional use of more metal oriented riffing. Riverside frontman Mariusz Duda guests on "S.U.S.A.R" which further enhances the validity of that comparison. To my ears the tracks where Mariusz Duda guests, which are "Cold Inside...I" and "Shade", could more or less have been Riverside tracks, while the predominantly longer instrumental tracks, which make out the rest of the 7 track, 47:43 minutes long album, all feature moments that sound similar to Riverside´s sound but it´s on those tracks where Indukti begins to show some of their own identity. The album features a dark mood throughout and it´s generally a very atmospheric release.

Indukti´s lineup includes a violinist in Ewa Jablonska (in addition to "regular" rock instrumentation of guitars, bass, and drums) who has a big part in creating the band´s sound. The rest of the band are very well playing too though and the interplay between the band members is generally on a very high level. "S.U.S.A.R" features a well sounding production too, and upon conclusion it´s through and through a high quality album. The music could maybe have prospered from a slightly more personal sound, and with that in mind the choice to include Duda as a guest vocalist probably wasn´t the wisest choice if the band didn´t want Riverside comparisons thrown at them, but everything else on this album screams quality, and therefore a 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating isn´t all wrong.

Sinkadotentree Well i must admit i didn't expect INDUKTI's followup to "SUSAR" to be it's equal let alone to like it even better. Man this is a beast though as they have become meaner and heavier on this their sophomore recording. On "SUSAR" we had RIVERSIDE's Mariusz Duda doing the vocals, here we get three guest vocalists helping out including Nils from SLEEPYTIME GORILLA MUSEUM on the second track "Tusan Homichi Tuvota". This is such a cool tune, especially the lyrics as we are told the story of this hawk who has been killing the chickens and rabbits. This mouse is prepared to take him on though. Great track ! The opener "Sansara" is a heavy instrumental. "Sunken Bell" is a short atmospheric piece with percussion. "And Who's God Now ?!..." has guest vocals from Maciej Taff who also wrote this song. Love his screaming. All hell breaks loose at the start of "Indukted" and while it does settle back it does stay heavy. "Aemaet" opens with distorted guitar and slicing violin as the drums and heaviness kick in. Intense ! What a great instrumental ! "Nemesis Voices" is the other track with vocals. Michael Luginbuehl is the singer and composer here. Another heavy assault for the senses. "Ninth Wave" is the longest track at 11 1/2 minutes and my favourite, which is saying something considering how amazing the music has been up until this final song. It's pastoral at first with the sound of waves and seagulls then the trumpet comes in and i must say it sounds brilliant throughout this song. The heaviness kicks in hard before 4 minutes. So good ! It does settle back and the violin joins in. How good is this 8 minutes in !? Kicking ass people. Waves and seagulls end it. What a ride ! Nothing less than 5 stars will do.

Sinkadotentree INDUKTI have to be my favourite band out of Poland. For me both albums they've released are essential for Metal fans. This is the debut released in 2005. Cool that RIVERSIDE vocalist Mariusz Duda does the vocal parts. Like RIVERSIDE they contrast the heavy and atmospheric sections very well. One big difference is the violin which i really like. "Freder" is a great example of the contrasts i was talking about. The harp early on and mellow mood are soon blown away by heaviness with the violin playing over top. Great track ! "Cold Inside...I" is laid back with Duda on vocals. It does build but it never lets loose. "No. 11812" is an instrumental that is intense and one of my favourite tracks. Ripping guitar and lots of bombast later. "Shade" is trippy and ethnic sounding with vocals. Some heaviness too with violin over top. "Uluru" is a crushing track with outfront bass and drums. "No. 11811" is another killer instrumental while "...And Weak II" ends the album in style. This is dark with lots of intesity. The record ends just like it began with harp. It's really a toss up as to which is my favourite album from 2005, this one or "Frances The Mute".

Warthur Indukti's debut album is a very capable piece of progressive metal which appears to take a lot of inspiration from Porcupine Tree's inspired entry into the genre on In Absentia - right down to the spacey, dreamlike vocals contributed by Mariusz Duda - and with the brilliant violin work of Ewa Jablonska adding a startling and unique dimension to their sound. Whilst prog bands of yesteryear were often fond of incorporating instrumentation beyond the typical rock group drums, guitar, bass, vocalist and optionally keyboard (as indeed are many modern post-rock groups), it always struck me as a bit of a shame that more prog metal groups didn't have any atypical instruments as permanent fixtures in their sound; here, Indukti buck that trend marvellously.

bonnek I have quite a few albums in my catalogue but even so, Indukti manages to sound very much unlike anything else I've heard. They are a progressive, experimental, mental heavy metal band. So don't expect overdressed goofs making the horn sign as their main way of communication here. This band is in it for the music!

A first obvious reference would be the instrumental side of King Crimson (albums Red, The Power to Believe): there's lots of chromatic guitar progressions with even some frippertronic guitar soundscapes as on Aemaet. The band has also a violin player in their ranks which makes the KC reference even stronger. But everything is made a lot heavier and louder by throwing in thrash metal staccato riffing, double-kicks drums, heavy distortions and loud mastering.

Most of the album is instrumental. Only 3 tracks contain vocals. Awesome vocals in my book, each of the guest singers is on the gruff and gothic side of things, often reminding me of Carl McCoy (Fields Of The Nephelim).

Indukti are sometimes qualified as post-metal but they don't apply much of the repetitious improvisational attitude from that genre. All songs are very much composed and progress through different themes and moods. I'd go for progressive metal with touches of industrial and avant-garde. Great album!