Review from Metal Roos

May 7, 2020
From: Metal Roos
Published: May 5, 2020

Sertraline is a post black metal band from Buffalo, NY, USA. Their EP “These Mills Are Oceans” encompasses 3 tracks: “Eyes as Tableau”, “Their Cities” and “Prague I”. You will hear different dynamics ranging from cleans to black metal style tremolo leads, enchanting atmospheres and thought provoking ambience made of well-composed intros, verses and choruses. This beautifully crafted music with a nostalgic feel to it slightly reminds me of Agalloch’s “Ashes Against The Grain” and Evoken’s “Quietus” albums both of which I am personally a huge fan of. You could easily find resemblance in many other artists in the doom and black metal scene.

I have been listening to this EP for a few days now and I am normally hard to please, some people call me an asshole, and they are not wrong. I can be critical where it is due. If a piece of music is not great, we should say so purely with the intent to enable the artist improve on what they are doing. For that reason as an artist myself I value negative feedback over positive. However, all of that is irrelevant to SERTRALINE’s “These Mills Are Oceans” which to my surprise has resonated almost instantly. This EP just hit me in the face out of nowhere and since then I could not stop listening to it.

To get a better understanding why this is the case, I looked up what the band name means.  As it turns out “Sertraline” means “anti-depressant” (as in a drug/pharmacy medicine). This makes total sense now. It is exactly what the music is meant to be – a thought provoking emotional roller coaster, the essence of the word “catharsis”. Personally I struck a huge chord with “Prague I” however “Eyes as tableau” could easily be the highlight tracks as well as “Their cities”. The overall EP production is good. The vocals sound like they are in the background, personally I would like them to be more present, but when listening to the music it is hard to even notice unless you are listening intently to analyze the production which in this EP is unnecessary. I personally would like the drums to be a tiny bit louder and prominent and there is huge room to experiment with different drum parts in this sort of music. A couple of skate beats sound out of time on the drums, not sure what happened there, but even that is very minor comparing to what this whole EP represents.

The EP cover does not reveal too much other than it is something obscure, which leaves the listener to interpret it in their infinite imagination. It would be nice to have something more specific, as there is so much emotion in the music surely the author had something more specific in mind. The title “These Mills Are Oceans” in my limited interpretation seems to be another way of saying “still waters run deep” or simply put “this music is very deep and thought provoking”, however I could be wrong here. Same goes for the song titles,- not entirely sure how to correctly interpret them as there is plenty of room for imagination. In general I find it challenging to fully or accurately interpret another person’s art, as this EP could carry easily many meanings. The lyrics could provide more insight into what exactly this EP is about, as the vocals are hard to understand, but again this is not necessary. Maybe this music is not meant to be understood, but merely enjoyed.

Most importantly in a time where a lot of bands copy their favorite artist, this EP and artist stands out due to their originality. Whoever crafted this music did so from the bottom of their hearts and souls and it is noticeable when listening to it. If I was the artist, I would not change much at all other than write more music like this. I believe a lot of people will truly enjoy this EP. Thank you for your music, the world needs it.

Rating: 4.5/5
Reviewed by: Justin Ks
 

Review from Ave Noctum

February 4, 2020
From: Ave Noctum 
Published: February 2, 2020

Citalopram, Venlafaxine, Sertraline, those little pills known as Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors make the bad old world that little bit more bearable for those of us that simply cannot cope with it. Helping with anxiety and depression and simply stopping us from going postal and killing people, many a creative person finds themselves in need of them to cope with day to day living. There is a duality though as they mask the probl...

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Review from Metal Temple

January 15, 2020
From: Metal Temple
Published: January 14, 2020

On November 12, 2019, SERTRALINE released their third EP “These Mills Are Oceans.” Impressive, as this EP comes merely a few months after their second EP “From Both Our Hands,” which was released July 5, 2019. Formed in 2015, SERTRALINE hails from Buffalo, New York. SERTRALINE plays post-black metal similar to the likes of ALCEST and WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM.

“Sertraline” is the generic name of Zoloft, which is used to trea...

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Review from Angry Metal Guy

January 2, 2020
From: Angry Metal Guy
Published: December 24, 2019

From the unsettlingly pink cover to the opening urgent melody, I loved Sertraline’s These Mills Are Oceans. The New York six-piece deliver a haunting brand of melodic post-black metal on their second EP of 2019. Both are stellar but These Mills takes it for me—just. Falling somewhere between Wolves in the Throne Room and Deafheaven, the walls of sound delivered by Sertraline’s three guitarists are rich, textured slabs of blea...

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Review from Art-noir

January 2, 2020
From: Art-noir.ch
Published: December 16, 2019

Wer unter Depressionen leidet, der bekommt oft Sertralin verabreicht. Dieser Wirkstoff hemmt die Neurotransmitter und mindert Angst- und Zwangsstörungen. Wie weit sich die neue EP von Sertraline aus New York dafür eignet, kann ich bezüglich meines fehlenden Medizinstudiums nicht nachweisen. Sehr wohl aber ist dieser Blackgaze, dieser träumerische Black Metal, eine wunderbare Flucht aus dem tristen Tag, aus den Wolken im Kopf. Mit d...

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Review from Infernal Masquerade Webzine

November 23, 2019
From: Infernal Masquerade Webzine
Published: November 21, 2019 

With a huge infusion of Post-Black Metal bands these days, it has become a very interesting job to listen to all their releases and find diamonds in the rough. Today we got lucky and found Sertraline’s latest EP release “These Mills Are Oceans”. While most bands try to copy the genre pioneers, this outfit marks their own path with the perfect balance between shoegazey guitars and furious BM onslaughts.

This short ...

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Review from Welcome to the Metal

November 15, 2019
From: Welcome to the Metal
Published: November 13, 2019

Just a few months back, we reviewed Sertraline‘s EP, From Both Our Hands, well-knowing that the band had decided to split their previous full length idea into two separate releases. Admittedly, I’d forgotten all about the second part of Sertraline’s 2019 release plan, but their OTHER new EP, which I just got in my email today is quite simply, a masterpiece.

I’m not just saying that because of my obsession with atmospher...

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 Released:  November 12, 2019
Digital Only
Genre: Post-Black Metal

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