Bloody Panda - Bloody Panda

A sludge band that doesn't intend to spread hate with its aggression or crush the listener with it's riffs but instead intends to create an atmosphere that reeks of insanity, desolation and melancholy may not interest the hardcore sludge listener.

Bloody Panda don't seem to be a band that chooses to walk on different paths of their musical career but gather whatever they can along their straight path, for the music on this EP, their first release and the latest LP, Summon doesn't seem to have changed much excepting a few tweaks here and there.

Slow music with the use of female vocals that are rather operatic and darkwave influenced seem to be the order for the day with a tinge of spoken vocals here and tad of screamed vocals there,

This type of music, for me at least deserves to be listened only once or maybe more depending on your mood. Nothing much to be said about the song writing except the fact that the music goes through on year, leaves the other leaving no impression on what lies between them.


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Bloody Panda - Summon

Nothing much has changed for the band since the first release. The vocals shine amongst the backdrop of music which leaves near no impact on the listener. The band , has gotten a bit more experimental with use of droney key boards and the inclusion of post rock moments.

Often quite slow, as we’d probably expect, the American band portrays the emotive side of the songs through a combined effort between the vocals and guitars, surging forward with some mighty riffs along the way, though nothing truly memorable, The drums aren’t that affective. They seem to only be present to layer and thicken the bass sound. Varying speeds distract the listeners attention from the positives and Bloody Panda do not seem to be able to interject small doses of experimentation like bands such as Disembowelment without too much fuss. From slow to double bass fast beats, it's hard to keep up with what Bloody Panda are attempting to achieve with this odd style of music. It's melancholic atmosphere is present throughout and is one of the better aspects of this release.


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Bloody Panda - Pheromone

On hearing this one would feel that this is more doom than sludge, but give it some concentration and you'll find the sludge variations buried deep into the fuzzed out distortion. In terms of being a hybrid band, Bloody Panda are interesting, certainly, though not the best. Alongside bands like Salome, Bloody Panda have opted to include the female vocals to make matters slightly more interesting against a backdrop of simplistic instrumentation, though the atmospheres are complex in mood structures.

The vocals are pretty much the highlight of this band, Yoshiko Ohara being the temptress. Her vocals soar above the rather dull portrayal of desolation and despair and are the spark in this rather level headed release.

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Laudanum - Coronation

The latest release from Oakland-based Laudanum is a fragmented collection of ambient doom-ish noise that only adequately reveals the band’s self-proclaimed “blackened instrument damage” when it’s listened to as a whole. Some moments, such as much of lengthy album closer “Apotheosis,” bring to mind the kinds of dissonant and industrial noises. Framing the disc as the score to an apocalyptic film is a good way to approach it, as expecting conventional structures (even by heavy music standards) will only lead to disappointment. There are a few moments on the album that move closer to more familiar metal shores, such as with the sporadic appearance of the harsh black/doom-style vocals. Even when expecting a less conventional approach to things, however, the album doesn’t always deliver the necessary goods to keep it interesting. It’s not that it’s boring, it's just not my thing maybe, — the whole is just more important than the individual parts. Most sludge band attempt to crush their listeners with their heavy riffs and violent drumming, while this band with its ambient sections attempts to take the listener to the point of despair and leave them there, trembling.

With this all in mind, The Coronation demands a full listen (probably multiple listens) in order to appreciate its larger project and to overlook its less fantastic moments.


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Atavist / Nadja - 12012291920 / 1414101

First collaborative record with Nadja.

How much is there one can write about a monotonous piece of ambient drone? As I was in search of Atavist's full-length albums, I came across this collaboration with Nadja, a Canadian band who I have come to love and cherish over recent months. So, I decided i'd give it a whirl and see what it was like.


This isn't the most mind-blowing piece of work. Its not heavy, its not fast paced and nor is it one spectacular solo after another. Its beauty is subtle. A collage of repetitive riffs, placed one after another swells and is about ready to burst into a fast paced explosion of massive proportions. Perhaps a disappointment to most, this never truly gets going. Its slow and very rarely changes. When it does, its subtle but entrancing. Subtlety is imperative as both Nadja and Atavist struggle to get this piece heard over the hundreds of ambient drone bands out there.


Although subtlety reigns supreme, one comes to find it increasingly important to the outcome. Beautiful melodies and sweeping riffs crash together like waves onto a wall. No vocals are present, so it may take the listener some time to both appreciate this full-length and also to gain the patience to get through this in one sitting, which is needed due to both lack of vocals and the intimidating song lengths of the two tracks. I believe song length is a major turn-off to many. Most people have no time for songs that increase over the six minute mark as it can become quite draining. This collaboration is certainly that.

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Atavist / Nadja - II: Points at Infinity

Second Collaborative Record with Nadja.

Atavist & Nadja's last collab was decent enough if not the most mindblowing thing ever; consisting mostly of some extremely relaxed (some may say comatose) ambient jams. Quite the patience tester but also pretty cool and with some relatively surprising results. This one's a fair bit different from that one, really. Higher highs, lower lows.

First track's probably where it's at. It'™s a real slow, haunting tune with some very down tuned guitar and those man-choir vocals that everyone seems to be loving these days. It's a patience tester but very, very cool; imagine a kveldssanger tune slowed down by 800% or so and you wouldn't be too far away. A pretty simplistic tune that will likely bore the pants off the average punter but I enjoy it a fair bit, it's just a real nice mellow tune that moves along at a beautifully glacial pace.

Second track's not nearly as good but most people will find at least the first few or so minutes interesting enough. This one's all about getting raped by massive riffs and it's impressively heavy; all tar black sludge riffs and screamed vocals. Well, that's what the first third is about. I can't for the life of me figure out why they go back to the drone, though; it's a real anticlimactic move and the lack of building or movement within said drone is a real bummer. Long, sustained tones and studio trickery can be cool, but not right after you're all excited about a huge riff-fest.

A pretty poor move, really. Still, the first track is terrific and while the second track could perhaps be better divided into two songs it's still pretty cool. Nadja fans will want this, newcomers to the band would be better off with something else.

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Atavist / Satori / Nadja - Infernal Procession... And Then Everything Dies

CD Limited to 1000 copies in a 6-panel out sized sleeve.

Perhaps being the best know of the trio of bands, Nadja leads off first with "Time is our Disease", a long track that has most of the characteristics I associate with Nadja: huge molten slabs of layered and distorted guitar dirge trundling through the space in my head and grinding down any grey matter not previously flattened by other Nadja tracks. The music can be repetitive at times yet it progresses inexorably towards some kind of climax which may or may not eventuate. Early on the singing verges on the whispery and wistful but after the halfway point the vocals acquire a more sinister, even monstrous edge. The music reacts accordingly, becoming thunderous and taking on a kind of doomed magnificence as if a flame is burning brightly and defiantly in the face of an insidious and horrible death. Not a great deal is new to me apart from the treated guitar melody that appears at the end.

Atavist's "Certitude" perhaps suffers from coming second to Nadja's thunder: Nadja can sound quite massive and this has the effect of making Atavist sounding a bit thin and tinny. But what these UK musicians lack in the thickness of the sound, they compensate by investing a lot of passion and conviction in what they do, and they prove to be no less grand and ambitious than Nadja. When Atavist let rip around the 6th minute, they are full of righteous anger and aggression with slashing guitar riffs, sharp and exacting percussion, bared fangs and unsheathed claws. This music certainly commands your attention and holds you rapt all the way in spite of the tinny nature of the production; I think this says a great deal about the care the musicians put into playing and improvising together, and into structuring the track as well. Prior planning with room for improvising make for a long piece of often exhilarating music, especially towards the end when the guitars begin to howl and you feel caught up in an all-embracing howling storm.

Satori present the dark ambient piece "Abyss", an appropriately bleak, murky soundscape with strange unseen creatures chirping indecipherable bug-noise messages. Ghostly tones fade or slide in and out of the blustery soundscape and dust storms get stirred up quite a lot. Not much actually happens during this track - the musicians tend to let the weather buffet you and no more.

Abyss