Metal Underground.com

Calling Melbourne, Australia's Heirs an "avant-garde post-doom quartet" seems a little over-the-top on the description for a band that sounds like a gloomier, doomier, atmospheric version of Pelican upon first listen. That's not a slight against Heirs or their uniqueness, however, as you'll be hard pressed to find any sort of doom with as much atmosphere as you'll find on the band's latest EP, "Hunter."

In three songs spanning nearly 25 minutes, Heirs creates some excellent mellow post-metal sounds. The opening title track, "Hunter," is more atmosphere than doom, with a simple riff echoing throughout most of the six-minute track. An ethereal siren song that comes and goes is the most memorable part of this song.

"Symptom" has a little bit of a heavier vibe from the start. Some synth sounds get layered in, but the percussion gets more prominent so that the song doesn't lose its heavy vibes. Much like Pelican, Heirs manages to inject a slightly upbeat feeling into the song with the tone of the guitars, even though the song plods at a mid-pace with a foreboding feel at times. At just under five and a half minutes, the song ends before it can wear out its welcome.

The final song on this EP is a cover of Sisters of Mercy's "Never Land" that spans well over 12 minutes. The somber tones work great and I would have never known it was a cover if I hadn't read as much. The song is actually quite repetitive, with some spacey effects fading in and out over its running time, but the overarching mellow, yet somber, melody is a pleasing one. This track is another good one to space out to.

Heirs' "Hunter" EP is anything but exciting. But it does make for some of the best mellow, slightly doomy post-metal to throw on as background music while you're doing something else.