If you’re wondering if this band comes from Belarus, because of your football knowledge, well… You’re wrong. Hamburg, Germany is the correct answer in this particular case. The three fellows in Shakhtyor are delivering there first work, with this self-titled album (Cyclone Empire), and the most visible “ingredients” are the many genres (stoner, doom, sludge, etc.) derived by the mighty institution that Black Sabbath is, with some few chunks of the most out of fashion genre on the underground metal scene today, post-rock.
Anyway, this four track album is better seen as an effort put out for a band that’s trying to find their own sound. Being in that horrible position where most of the bands never get out, I might say that is a really nice effort put out by the band. One of the Shakhtyor’s most interesting aspects is, without a doubt, the range set of patterns and landscapes they created from the first to the last minute. Sure, they’re all connected and it’s hard to be astonished in the sense that one can see why they changed from one pattern and/or landscape to another. But when’s that, by any means, wrong? It’s not! After all, they do it in a pretty solid way taking care of the essential foundations that those kind of changes require. In this work, that receives a jam-approach, it’s very notorious that the members are comfortable working as a unit, mixing all their works into a big demolishing unit.
As fun and easy-banger this record might be, the lack of true identity and a left field in this debut album puts the band in the “It Can Be Something” shelve. I mean, it’s easy to pinpoint things like Neurosis, Cult of Luna, Isis, Pelican and so on. I have no doubt that a song like the opener ‘E. Jasper’ will bring a handful of fans to this band, because of the cool guitar effects that everyone seems to love in this genre and the mood’s transformation. Yes, it is pleasant but doesn’t have the own identity needed. The normal debut album with the plus of being a nice journey.
7/10
Tiago Moreira