Trending :
  • Riff Relevant Interviews: KABBALAH
  • GEAR ASSEMBLY Series #22: BACKWOODS PAYBACK’s Mike Cummings
  • GEAR ASSEMBLY Series #21: WORSHIPPER / SUMMONER’s Dave Jarvis
  • GEAR ASSEMBLY Series #20: LIGHTNING BORN / CRYSTAL SPIDERS’ Brenna Leath
  • GEAR ASSEMBLY Series #19: IMONOLITH/DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT’s Ryan Van Poederooyen
  • GEAR ASSEMBLY Series #18: MOURN THE LIGHT’s Bill Herrick
  • GEAR ASSEMBLY Series #17: LÁGOON’s Anthony Gaglia
  • GEAR ASSEMBLY Series #16: THE W LIKES’s Lars-Erik Skogly
  • GEAR ASSEMBLY Series #15: TELEPATHY’s Richard Powley
  • GEAR ASSEMBLY Series #14: WARHORSE’s Mike Hubbard
June 16, 2025
Riff Relevant Site Logo Image

RiffRelevant.com – Heavy Music News Features

  • Features
    • RR Exclusives
    • Interviews
    • Series & Columns
    • Music Reviews
    • Live Reviews
    • Photo Galleries
    • Random Records
  • News
    • Music Releases
    • Tours
    • Festivals
  • About/Contact
    • General Contact
    • Gear Assembly – Interview Questions
    • Hearkened Heap – Band Submission
    • Riff Relevant Team
    • Privacy Policy
  • Home
Search for:
  • Home
  • 2019
  • March
  • 25
  • SÂVER ‘They Came With Sunlight’ Album Review
Sâver They Came With Sunlight

SÂVER ‘They Came With Sunlight’ Album Review

March 25, 2019August 15, 2021

Article By: Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker ‡ Edited By: Leanne Ridgeway

It has been a rapid two and a half months since I discovered Norway’s SÂVER, by means of the stunning official video for their song “I, Vanish“.

From that very first time experiencing the song and its engrossing imagery, I was instantaneously hooked… plugged into a feeling that something unique was taking place. See, that can be a hard acquisition sometimes, to hear music that is so engrossing, so fantastic that it causes you to feel something on a large scale. Yet, SÂVER did exactly this, and guess what?

They did not stop there, as the following month they delivered a second salvo of sonic excess by way of a stark ocular presentation for another song, the hauntingly harrowing “Dissolve To Ashes“. Two tremendous compositions that seemed to possess the ability to shudder the very earth beneath our feet? I knew that I had to have more and as sure as most demons are summoned by the calling of their names, there was indeed more to come.

‘They Came With Sunlight‘, the monumental, full-length début from SÂVER was released from Pelagic Records in early March and there’s no sense in mincing words. This is one unholy, monstrous beast of an album… a proper introduction made with aplomb so abominable it has the potential to scar you for life. Though a newer band this may be, make no mistake that this artistic trio – Ole Christian Helstad (bass, vocals), Ole Ulvik Rokseth (guitar, synth, vocals), and Markus Støle (drums) – seem to be old souls with the abilities to tap into something altogether unearthly in their music.

With their shared collective past in bands Tombstone and Hymn, this trio is no strangers to heaviness nor do they forego their roots on this album. You won’t know that initially, of course, at least not for the first two minutes or so, as the audible invitation of “Distant Path” is extended. Like any good two-minute warning, what unfurls from that point forward is a bludgeoning movement heaving with lethal, crippling sludge metal. It soon achieves a maximum velocity, then levels out amid deluging waves of apocalyptic doom – vocals and music melding into a rhythmic cadence as a cacophonic maelström rage.

Without missing a beat, the infectious churning riff of “I, Vanish” invades, then navigates its way into your brain like a burrowing earworm. A bit Voivod-ian in feel, the music encircles the listener in a swirling, syncopated vortex of that addictive riff, crunching rhythms, and kit-battering drums. Before too long, hellish, black metal type vocals find their way into things, just prior to some flourishes of psychedelia in the music that precede slight,  periodic melodic turns.

 

 

A lot of this album appears to be an exploration in the juxtaposition of contrasting elements – heavy as opposed to airy, or chaotic versus orderly, aggression or tranquility. Sometimes, these opposing ends of the sonic spectrum are manipulated to face off within a singular track; other times a particular song embodies one, while an altogether different song represents another.

Perhaps the best representation for the second principle of my theory is “Influx” and “How They Envisioned Life“. The first provides a slightly unsettling immersion into a barren cosmic void, one achieved via minimal engagements of instrumentation. Devoid of any vocals, there is a feeling of untethered drifting that slowly engulfs you. Like some celestial Venus Flytrap, it enthralls you right up until your destruction.

That undoing does not last though, for a symbolic reconstitution occurs with the slow-oozing, thunderously pummeling arrival of “How They Envisioned Life“. Bordering on the cusp of drone type doom, this ruining juggernaut heaps burdensome distributions of aural weight upon a body, pound after pound. Gradually gaining more and more mass as it pulverizes your being, the eventual imparting of vocalizations come by way of two means – volatile and acidic throated, or harsh, but slightly cleaner and shouted ones (reminiscent of Neurosis’ Steve Von Till).

At this point, we find ourselves phasing into one of the unquestionably more unique constructs upon the album, the “synthundated” (synth + inundated) “Dissolve To Ashes“. This is a number where electronics are utilized to their maximum yield, but first beginning as a riveting, effervescent embellishment. Ever so slightly, their presence is a sedating element as they further unfurl, soon joined by equally ethereal vocals working in unison to entrance the listener. Quite Deftones-like for a moment, another component finding its way in, a guitar riff in tremolo mode breaks the sonic surface and ripples outwardly like a subtle cue to engage the aggression.

A somniferously mesmerizing output of calming audio will ultimately acclimate all into “Altering Light“, beckoning in steps as its emanations envelop all we know. Yes, inward, inward, ever deeper into the haze of shoegaze and ambient effusion taking place, washing over us until it isn’t anymore. That happens at a point where there is an obvious turn in musical direction, a hard jerk of the steering wheel that sends everything crashing into densely abject doom. Totaled by this barrage of gritty, muddied sludge now striking us down, dashing any levity and determined to leave us groveling, all hope does seem lost. Yet, a slight reprise of the song’s tamer, more stable output from its earlier start is reapplied and remains until the song and record ultimately reach their cessation.

With the arrival of the ending, a stark realization has crept its way into our being and now dwells within us. It awakens us to the first official release from SÂVER, ‘They Came With Sunlight‘, which is without that very thing referenced… sunlight. There is no light here! This is bleak, ominously blackened and foreboding, full of sinister and disquieting contents. This is a threatening record, an injurious journey where the only illumination comes when your soul grows enlightened to the dire and lasting dangers of this musical manifestation.

Stream ‘They Came With Sunlight‘ in this review or find further streaming and purchase options at Bandcamp.

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2019All Rights Reserved
Original content here is published under these license terms: X 
License Type:Read Only
License Abstract:You may read the original content in the context in which it is published (at this web address). No other copying or use is permitted without written agreement from the author.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Click to share on Flipboard (Opens in new window) Flipboard
  • More
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window) Telegram
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window) Pocket

Related

2019, Album Review, Bandcamp, Doom, Norway, Pelagic Records, Post-Metal, Psychedelic, SÂVER, Sludge

Post navigation

Oldschool Sunday: NOCTURNUS A.D.
BAILER “Crawl Back” Video Single; U.K. Tour & Fest Dates

Subscribe

Posts summary sent once daily.

Social Media

  • View riffrelevant’s profile on Facebook
  • View riffrelevant’s profile on Twitter
  • View riffrelevant’s profile on Instagram
  • View riffrelevant’s profile on Pinterest
  • View UCdbZdjx5cfC3COhXaMYhGmQ’s profile on YouTube
  • View riffrelevant’s profile on Tumblr

Spotify Playlist

Twitter

My Tweets

Sponsored Events

maryland doom fest 2020 logo hdr300
descendants of crom logo300

Music Festivals

  • Descendants of Crom
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

Extra

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Site Menu

  • Features
    • RR Exclusives
    • Interviews
    • Series & Columns
    • Music Reviews
    • Live Reviews
    • Photo Galleries
    • Random Records
  • News
    • Music Releases
    • Tours
    • Festivals
  • About/Contact
    • General Contact
    • Gear Assembly – Interview Questions
    • Hearkened Heap – Band Submission
    • Riff Relevant Team
    • Privacy Policy
  • Home

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • X
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube
  • Tumblr

Contact Us

News@riffrelevant.com

Search

Search for:

Categories

Visitors

  • 593,544

RR Merch Shop!

Riff Relevant Merch Store TSpring Image

Recent Articles

  • DESCENDANTS OF CROM IV: Confirmed Lineup For June 2022
  • Premiere: GUNASH Shares New Single Off ‘All You Can Hit’ Album
  • Exclusive: ELECTRIC AGE Premieres “Painter Of Saints” Album Advance Stream
  • Exclusive: BOOZEWA Premieres “Dingmanz” Song Off ‘Developing Good Health’
  • Premiere: MALOTA Debuts “Lampedusa” Single Off ‘The Uninvited Guest’ EP

Most Read Today

Oldschool Sunday: WARZONE [30th Anniv. Reissue Of 1988's 'Open Your Eyes']
Oldschool Sunday: HAWK
VOID VATOR 'Dehumanized' EP Review; Official Video + Live Dates
AUTUMN'S EMBRACE Announces 'Possessions Enslaved' EP; Track Streams
Oldschool Sunday: BAD WIZARD
Oldschool Sunday: F.U.C.T.
LEEWAY Announces 2018 U.S. Tour; RHYTHM OF FEAR To Support
DEATH ANGEL Title Track Off 'Humanicide' Album; Tour w/ OVERKILL & ACT OF DEFIANCE
Copyright © RiffRelevant.com All rights reserved.
All original content on these pages is fingerprinted and certified by Digiprove