By: Ernesto
Aguilar
Album Type: Full Length
Date
Released:
22/09/2017
Label: Argonauta
Records
Those who have
followed Nibiru's past releases recognize the group has a way of creating
dauntless music beyond what even the most experimental metal is about. "Qaal
Babalon" is its best work to date, though you have to wonder how far the
band can take this style next.
"Qaal Babalon" CD//DD track listing:
1.
Oroch
2.
Faboan
3.
Bahal Gah
4.
Oxex
The Review:
Standards
for EPs versus full-length releases are a perplexing question. Is it a length
thing? Number of tracks? And in a genre renown for sprawling cuts, what does it
really mean anyway? In the matter of Nibiru, a performer that has its own talent
for those long explorations, answers are even harder to come by.
Turin, Italy's Nibiru (not to be mistaken by
the Russian metalcore band with the same moniker) are back to wrap up the year
with a four-song release clocking in at nearly an hour. These have been an active
few years for the trio. Nibiru's 2013 debut, “Caosgon”, was reissued in February 2016, the group offered up a
fantastic EP, “Teloch”; and then more
recordings in 2015 (“Padmalotus”) and
2014 (“Netrayoni”). Nibiru,
in its releases, delivers a compelling brand of doom that melds drone,
psychedelica and sludge. Drone and even a hint of funeral doom are perhaps the
most prominent sounds in Nibiru's vision, and such may certainly define
your love for the band, or it’s new, quite masterful, return in "Qaal Babalon."
The
19-minute "Oroch" begins
the release with Ardath's transcendent guitar and vocals. Thick with effects,
the instrumentation is supplemented with disharmonious drones. Black metal has
its own symphonic offshoot. If drone doom had a related offspring, Nibiru
would be one of its great adherents. The song has a tremendously deep and
apocalyptic feel to it all. As it chugs to the midway point, Ardath unleashes a
ritualistic vocal that comes across as a particularly sinister chant more than
a growl in the best, most infernal way. Make no bones about it – even for an
ardent doom fan, this is a very punishing start. Yet its conclusion, with its
black metal-esque curvature of lyrics, will be incredibly satisfying for those
who stay the course.
Through
the middle of the recording, "Faboan"
and "Bahal Gah" are both
the most provocative tracks because they are each going to demonstrate a side
of Nibiru
you would not expect after the start of
"Qaal Babalon." "Faboan"
is the most accessible song on the release. It is not only a faithful and
compelling doom composition, but there are post-rock and punk influences
evident particularly across instrumental bridges. As such, as a second cut,
this is a surprising and excellent choice because it builds on the imposing
opener with something more comprehensible to the new fan. The next song verges
into territory blazed by the opening, while managing to introduce sludge and
drone that make it less disorienting than the selection could easily go off
into. Praise be to L.C. Chertan on drums, whose work really steadies the song
and brings out the potency of its first three minutes. Again, Ardath proves to
be an agile vocalist, hitting a lower register and meeting the downtempo mood
and effects.
Before
you get the idea that Nibiru are now shooting for Mastodon-level
acceptability, the band closes with "Oxex,"
far more temerarious an entry than even the opening. Where to begin? Few
extreme music songs ever neatly fit a category. Nowhere is that more pronounced
than here. From its ceremonial drum beginnings to its gentle guitar contrasted
against the serrated vocals, Nibiru enters into a trancelike state, with
even a tambourine. At unexpected moments, doom bass lines pick at your flesh,
but the mood refuses to until around the ninth minute. Then, with a hellish
whisper, Nibiru
goes not into a raging metal romp, but… silence, then drone. And then… things
you will just have to listen to find.
Those
who have followed Nibiru's past releases recognize the group has
a way of creating dauntless music beyond what even the most experimental metal
is about. "Qaal Babalon" is
its best work to date, though you have to wonder how far the band can take this
style next.
"Qaal Babalon" is available here:
