drone / doom
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Merchants Of Air is starting to look like an Aidan Baker fanboy website. I don't think anyone is featured more often than him, not only because of all the reviews for his solo work and his acts like Caudal, Hypnodrone Ensemble and Nadja but he was also one of the first artists on our Songs With Stories series (read). I can't help it, I've been a fan for years and each new release is something to look forward to. Besides, he definitely is one of the most prolific musicians out there and he never disappoints.
On this album, the duo further explores the enormous world of drones, fuzzed-out ambient, post-rock and doom metal. The latter to that extent that the music often reminds me of funeral doom bands like Evoken, Shape Of Despair and Sunn O))). Yes, drone doom, funeral doom, whatever. Slow, heavily distorted doom songs, alternating with atmospheric guitar ambient, drums and delayed shoegazing vocals, this is Nadja pur-sang.
The album’s intriguing title comes from a runic inscription on an Icelandic burial stone but the phrase also appears on the Eggja Stone which provided some of the lyrical content on the record. Yes, there are lyrics and vocals, but they're pretty much always hiding behind Nadja's well-known walls-of-sound. In that aspect, perhaps it's safe to compare these three songs with a stretched out versions of some of the albums on Nadja's cover album 'When I See The Sun Always Shines On TV '.
In all, it shouldn't be a surprise that I'd like to recommend this album to all Nadja fans out there. It's a classic album of the duo, simply delivering the goods as we're pretty much used to by now. If you like fuzz, drones, subdued vocals and a sluggish tempo, this definitely is your thing. In fact, you shouldn't even have read this review. Fans can blindly buy this gem and be perfectly content with it. I know I am...
Serge
On this album, the duo further explores the enormous world of drones, fuzzed-out ambient, post-rock and doom metal. The latter to that extent that the music often reminds me of funeral doom bands like Evoken, Shape Of Despair and Sunn O))). Yes, drone doom, funeral doom, whatever. Slow, heavily distorted doom songs, alternating with atmospheric guitar ambient, drums and delayed shoegazing vocals, this is Nadja pur-sang.
The album’s intriguing title comes from a runic inscription on an Icelandic burial stone but the phrase also appears on the Eggja Stone which provided some of the lyrical content on the record. Yes, there are lyrics and vocals, but they're pretty much always hiding behind Nadja's well-known walls-of-sound. In that aspect, perhaps it's safe to compare these three songs with a stretched out versions of some of the albums on Nadja's cover album 'When I See The Sun Always Shines On TV '.
In all, it shouldn't be a surprise that I'd like to recommend this album to all Nadja fans out there. It's a classic album of the duo, simply delivering the goods as we're pretty much used to by now. If you like fuzz, drones, subdued vocals and a sluggish tempo, this definitely is your thing. In fact, you shouldn't even have read this review. Fans can blindly buy this gem and be perfectly content with it. I know I am...
Serge
