Subrosa “Strega” CD

The always quality I Hate Records recently dropped another extremely intriguing release—"Strega", the second full-length from Subrosa (whose limited edition debut is apparently now sold out). When I first popped the disc in I was immediately stricken by the band's curiously innovative approach to the types of eerie, sludgy, doom-laden atmospheres for which I Hate's roster is most known, and assumed they were probably from Sweden or the UK or something like that. Then I sit down to write this up and I come to find out they're actually from Salt Lake City, UT of all places, which somehow seems even stranger!? Whatever the case, a somewhat monotone (yet emotive) form of singing tends to be the focal point, blended against a foundation of relatively simple, stripped down "doom" riffs with that classic, fuzzed out tone and somewhat of a bluesy "old school doom" sort of backbone. However, they also utilize electric violin, and somehow layer textures together to create a lot of really unique droning effects that sort of bubble up amidst the background tones of the mix to thicken things up and create additional space within space, if that makes any sense. I hate to keep using words like "curious" and "intriguing" and "strange", but I assure you that I mean them all in a very complementary manner, as the peculiarities of Subrosa's approach are both admirable and inventive—keeping them in line with the general vibe of this type of genre while also separating them from the pack and creating an experimental sort of angle that effectively draws the listener in with nonstandard tactics that shun conventional expectations. For example, you'd often expect a band within this realm to be dealing with long, drawn out compositions, but the majority of these tracks are just two or three minutes each, and the title track is the only song that tops six minutes. I don't know what else to say, really. I just find this to be a really interesting album, and I hope some of you will feel the same and pick it up as a result.

Subrosa "Crucible"

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The End Records