Review: Syberia – Quan tot s’apagui
In the darkness a light that shines.
With the exception of a few bands, post-metal hasn’t really done it for me so I may not have been paying close enough attention, but it feels like the previously oversaturated subgenre has really tapered off over the last decade. Much like the big IPA craft beer craze that ran concurrently, it was all the rage through large swathes of the 2000s and 2010s but I just haven’t heard much buzz about it in a while.
Syberia is one of the few bands of the subgenre that I do actually enjoy although I was lukewarm on their first two albums. This instrumental band from Barcelona finally piqued my interest with 2019’s Seeds of Change and they’ve only seemed to get better and more interesting with each album since. Their newest album Quan tot s’apagui is easily their best outing thus far.
The usual markers of instrumental post-metal are all here: bombastic drums playing tribal grooves, repeating overdriven sludge riffs, and shimmering delay-drenched tremolo picking. All that being said, instead of coming off as derivative, Syberia have once again offered up something that manages to feel fresh while taking all the things that made Isis so great (sans vocals, of course) and widening the scope, making it sound even more cinematic.
Album opener “En la foscor una llum que brilla” begins with a slow swell of droning bass tones and digital feedback for nearly two minutes before the full band crashes in. Isis is such an easy comparison to point out since Syberia’s sense of melody and rhythmic tendencies are often reminiscent of Oceanic or Panopticon, both massively important albums to the subgenre. Just check out the groove that comes in around the 5-minute mark for supporting evidence.
Each of the 5 songs on Quan tot s’apagui has a big “hell yeah, brother” moment. In “llampecs d’oblit d’uns records en vida,” it arrives after nearly 3 minutes of jamming on tribal drum grooves and meditative guitar strumming, both of which gradually intensify. “naixença d’una mort tranquil·la.” might just be the best track on Quan tot s’apagui. Its riffs bludgeon you with heaviness from the beginning, picking up where the previous song left off. The second half sounds so grand that it makes me want to unbutton my shirt and stand in front of the nearest operating wind machine.
Even on an album with as many high points as this, things hit a lull with the relatively subdued “Dins la meva anima la sang em bull…” which would be my vote for the least interesting song as it just sort of floats by on autopilot for its more than 10-minute runtime. While it doesn’t keep me actively engaged I’ll still give it an approving head nod for the opening few minutes, which reminded me of watching an episode of Mr. Robot.
Syberia explores big open sonic spaces on the stellar closing track “quan me’n vagi no em tanqueu els ulls.” The guitars seem to stretch and contract while the blasting drums propel the song ever forward for a satisfying ending to the album.
Quan tot s’apagui is such a focused album and an enjoyable ride from start to finish. Not only does each song fit cohesively in its place within the album, but the Catalan song titles also seem to fit together as a stanza of poetry, although I couldn’t identify a particular source poem [Note from the Editor: It’s an original poem by the band]. Translated to English, they read:
In the darkness a light that shines,
flashes of oblivion of some memories in life,
birth of a peaceful death,
inside my soul my blood boils…
when I leave, don’t close your eyes.
Syberia has opened my eyes to the banner year for releases that I hope 2026 will be. After all, we don’t seem to have many lights shining in our current darkness, so we may as well listen to some metal.
4/5 Flaming Toilets ov Hell
Quan tot s’apagui is out now on Moment of Collapse Records.
