Sofia, Bulgaria is home to doom metal quintet Upyr. Having formed in 2012, Аltars/Tunnels is the groups first demo release. And my isn’t it a good one. Lead track ‘Altars of Necrotic Karma’ has a monstrously infectious main riff that towers over the rest of the band’s instruments. The drums reverberate with a steady beat. ‘Into the Tunnels of My Sleep’ starts with a shuddersome clean guitar riff. It’s not long before the doom-laden crunch of guitars are unleashed, remarkably heavy and equally intensified by the vocals of Brodnik. ‘Hymn to Pan’ is a much more restrained affair. Spoken vocals are interwoven with shuddering whispers, backed only by guitars of Spasm and Tymnokryw, and no drums at all throughout the whole track. Scintillating stuff. Final track, ‘Welcome to the Ritual’, which incidentally only appears on the cassette version of Аltars/Tunnels is yet another slow paced behemoth. Some areas do seem to have gaps that need a little padding, but it is important to remember that this is a demo. We predict great things in 2014 for Upyr, the next offering from these guys should be a belter!
Brodnik (Vocals), V.B. (Drums), Mora (Bass), Spasm (Guitar), Tymnokryw (Guitar).
Аltars/Tunnels is available to buy on cassette through Serpent Eve Records.
FEEDBACK METAL 
Leave a comment