SUNDR create music that paints horizons of fire and ice. Clashing glacial drifts and carefully restrained explosiveness meet in the middle of crushing tectonic plates, melting and dissolving their own essence back down into the filthy soil held captive below. On their 2017 record The Canvas Sea, the Melbourne post-metal act has executed a quality normally reserved for times well beyond a bands debut. More >>

written by Lochlan Watt

From the moment Sundr stepped on stage, the whole vibe seemed to change slightly. Although their was nothing seemingly special about the band based on looks alone, something about the way that they conducted themselves just setting up seemed different. The lighting for their set was mostly blue, a fitting choice, clear and cool, and although it might have just been me, it felt like from the moment the band entered the stage it felt like it was building up to something big. And then they started to play. A crushing blend of emotive, intense post-metal riffs, guitar-built ambience, and songs that progressed with a purpose, Sundr's set felt like a masterclass in how to create an intense atmosphere without being overly slow or repetitive. There's nothing I like more than a band who looks like they're really getting into playing their music, and Sundr was lively throughout their entire set ñ and their energy was contagious, getting me moving more than any other band on the bill tonight. I was thoroughly impressed, and ended up picking up their album before leaving. More >>

written by Hamza Siddiqi

There is a particular mental time and place for this bands music to be optimally appreciated, and much like most sluggish doom/sludge metal, it is best for accompanying a contemplative or disheartening moment. Sundr's fusion of ferocity and dejection culminates in a unique sense of unease, but ultimately results in a much milder take on a heavy style, one that's much warmer on the ears. The band pushes sludge metal in the opposite direction to what were used to, turning the gain down and the eeriness up, and it pays off beautifully in its own esoteric way.  More >>

written by Max Jacobsen

Though these songs tread the measured pace of doom, with each riff detonating with a sustained force, SUNDR have learned John Cage's lessons well, and are aware that power often comes from notes that aren't played in pure heaviness of the silent interlude. Further, the music crackles with the electricity of Scott Curtis's screamed vocals, each song tracking a mercurial narrative that maintains tension that similar bands often lack.

SUNDR is unafraid to strip their compositions back to skeletal forms, trusting the listener to follow through atmospheric interludes and slow, layered buildups into the cataclysmic finale. When wound up, they can loose an incredibly heavy punch.

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written by Philip Kaberry

Since 2015's Loss, Sundr have been collating the cascading instrumentals, sluggish sludgy tempos and dirge-esque riffs of doom, liberally utilising the size, scope, dynamics and haunting melodic tendencies of post-metal, and the primal screaming and raw undertones of black metal and post-hardcore to create a hostile yet engrossing sound. Now with their second record, the doomy and darkened seven-track epic that was this years The Canvas Sea, Sundr took that very approach to metal and then drove it to its most extreme points. More >>

written by Alex Sievers

Debut LP The Canvas Sea contains seven slabs of cathartic hellfire split by moments of fragile ambience and crushing metallic dirge. Resonating guitar melodies sink into tar black drone. Not only is the music heavy, but the emotional weight is too. Vocalist Scott Curtis dug deep to write lyrics that would match the bleak nature of the music.  More >>

written by Jack Pilven

Sundr's highly anticipated sophomore effort, The Canvas Sea, is every bit as haunting as it is well constructed. The sense of sheer dread that permeates tracks such as I Still See Plagues is akin to watching the moon appear from behind thick clouds on a cold night ñ an unsettling unison between dark and light. That's not to mention the powerful tempo change at the end of the track, so furious it could melt steel.  More >>

written by Brandon Hills

Sundr revel in the sub-60 BPM range, and they deserve kudos for creating an album of such warmth and atmosphere without resorting to very much in the way of studio manipulation.  More >>

written by Andrew Bernstein

Because of this ethos, Sundr have gained a cult-like following amongst their peers – with a near hypnotic balance between huge sounding hard sections and ghostly ambience, every show draws in the audience like moths to flame.  More >>

written by Jonty Simmons