The name Talsur has been around for several years now but, at least until now, it had remained rather in the shadows, despite six full lengths and several ep’s released between 2015 and 2020. I don’t know if this could have affected it, but letting this time a reasonable amount of time pass between releases seems to have brought really relevant results. The doom death of this solo project led by the Russian musician Vitaly Surkov is pervaded by a marked atmospheric nature and an orchestral propensity that, in this latest work entitled Dark, is accentuated by the use of male and female operatic voices and the abundant use of string instruments. Beyond a cover that does not do justice to the goodness of the work, it should be noted that eighty minutes of music are not easily assimilated and memorized and, inevitably, a greater synthesis would have helped in this sense, but this is one of the characteristics that, for better or worse, accompany the work of particurally prolific musicians. The opener After Birth turns out to be the ideal manifesto about Surkov’s stylistic approach, which along these thirteen minutes shows a great compositional sensibility and airy and effective solutions; the rest of the work is maintained on equally high levels, offering another hour of doom metal, well cared for and, all in all, alternative to the canonical schemes for a melodic research that is sublimated in the classical drives that pervade the development. In fact, the sound is only rarely streaked by rough aimed to punctuate an enveloping melancholy gait; this is a work to which we must devote careful listening and prolonged, even if it should not convince the first listening, because in the long run the fruits that will be collected will be rewarding and will open the doors of access to the imagination of Talsur. Dark is the disclosure of a talent perhaps underestimated until now but that, in this latest release, seems to have focused its objectives reworking in the best way their different sources of inspiration.
2022 – Independent
Mournful Sounds 