The sludgsters Black Tundra formed in 2016 in Warsaw, Poland. Comprised of ex-Dopelord and Hidden Haze members, these fellows are by no means rookies in the world of metal. The band is made up of Dave and Tomek Sikora on guitars, Marcin Skarzyński on bass and vocals and Blond on drums. In January of 2017 the band got together and began to record what would eventually become the bands debut self titled album. The album was recorded, and mixed by Haldor Grunberg (Satanic Audio) at “Nebula Studio” and Mastered by Audiosiege.
Black Tundra‘s debut starts out with the track “Before The Fall”. It has this eerie style and it eases you into the pace of the song as it speeds up inch by inch. The drumming has this overall tribal feel and the cymbal crashes just ring out as the song comes into it’s own. Around the 1 minute mark Marcin Skarzyński’s vocals expel and they are harsh, gritty and everything we love. A mixture of sludge, stoner and doom all in one package on this track. The bass and guitars combined give us this incredible slowed down grinding groove, its one of the most appealing things the band has showcased. The bands namesake track “Black Tundra” beings in an almost drone like fashion. The pace on this tracks stays somewhat slowed as Marcin Skarzyński’s vocals are more drawn out. Still harkening to that grit and harshness but they are somewhat more somber and delicate. They break up the vocals with a welcoming instrumental section in the song which goes back to the bands doom roots. It’s easy to see why the bands name is the same as this track. It’s incredible and offers everything you could want from one band in less than 6 minutes. The album ends with the track “No Dawn” which is the longest track on the album coming in at just over 7 minutes. The song is like a journey taking various turns in its sound, but keeping a constant foot tapping pace. In this track you can hear some prog influence. The band has a bag full of tricks and influences they can piece together to make any song work and stand out amongst the crowd. It just so happens that “No Dawn” includes several of those varying influences.
Black Tundra bring everything a doom, stoner rock and sludge fan would want on an album. They piece it all together cohesively and the instrumentation is rock solid. Marcin’s vocals are just a small fragment of the bands success and they rely heavily on their instruments to conquer your ear drums on each and every track. This by no means sounds like a debut album. There is a chemistry and synchronicity with these band members that put them on another level, and whatever they do in the future I can assure you it will be good.
