I have to admit the place where this band of misfits originates from was originally the reason I decided to give Bevar Sea a try. As you might know, though a band from the same country has already been reviewed on this very site, India is not exactly known for his swarming metal scene. Actually, according to Metal Archives (a reliable source for metal releases if there ever was one), only 9 full-lengths came to us from that country of over a billion in 2012, half of them self-released... Not a lot.

Fast coming after they formed in 2010, released two live demos the following year and finally signed to the Bangalore newly established metal label Iron Fist Record, Bevar Sea’s self-titled debut showcases some epic stoner/doom devoid of any clues as to where and by whom it’s been recorded but for a slightly amateurish production, nothing to ruin the fun of a listening to surprisingly apt formation which, by the way, also proves how widespread quality metal has become.

Bevar Sea roots itself strongly into 70s hard rock/heavy metal with influences ranging from Black Sabbath (obviously!), Thin Lizzy, Blue Cheer or Led Zeppelin to which they add elements acquired from more recent formations such as Sleep, St. Vitus, or Cathedral… Clearly, if you’re looking for something breathtakingly original, this is not it. That said, the five musicians certainly have the chops and skills to craft quite an efficient 40 minutes in just four (long) excellent songs.

First track, The Smiler, has the strongest early-Black Sabbath feel of all, it’s jammy (as Iommi & co sometimes were) with trippy lead guitars, heavy too, and slow as doom should but dynamic with vocalist Ganesh Krishnaswamy delivering an aggressive yet melodic performance…and, yes, it’s a great tune which kickstarts the album very nicely. Abisthu is pretty much more of the same with some very nice guitars parts (great riffs all the way!) including a lead section where both axemen, Rahul Chacko & Srikanth Panaman, “discuss” and even grant us of some discreet but efficient twin guitars. I’m not too fond of the Cronos-like vocals on this one but it works in context and gives us a great stoner/doom 9 minutes run. Universal Sleeper start with a good stoner riff developing into twin guitar-parts… Something like Thin Lizzy convincingly attempting to sound like Black Sabbath. Nice intro. The rest of the song, with Ganesh vocals still on the harsh side, flows nicely with its obligatory lead sections (of which the psychedelic bluesy final is the greatest) breezin’ in and a shitload of riffs spread throughout it. And yes, it’s another winner. Last but not least comes the 14 minutes epic Mono Gnome. This is where Bevar Sea at its most ambitious, where the band strays farer from the its stoner/doom label and delivers, with crushingly heavy riffs and Ganesh demented vocals (his finest performance of the album too), some epic doom metal augmented with a psychedelic hard rock feel brought by blues-sounding trippy lead guitars. The album ends, after a short silence, by a 3 minute two guitars acoustic instrumental proving, if needed be, that Bevar Sea has the potential to give us even more than what it so talentedly crafted on its debut full length.

Yes. I loved every the album, every second of it. It’s nothing new but works, from start to finish, better than most stoner/doom albums I laid my ears on this year, actually. So, please, don’t let the fact that it comes from such an unusual origin put you off, Bevar Sea simply has released a hell of a great album.