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Nibiru - Qaal Babalon review




Bandcamp music player
Reviewer:
7.9

9 users:
7
Band: Nibiru
Album: Qaal Babalon
Release date: September 2017


01. Oroch
02. Faboan
03. Bahal Gah
04. Oxex

It's been a few years since the term "edging" has happily made its way into contemporary parlance.* Now, it's hard to say what kind of twisted soul would submit themselves to such torture, but it at least makes some kind of sense when you hold it in context with a band like Nibiru.

Indeed, there is a noticeable parallel between that brand of solitary sexual masochism and this brand of psychedelic sludge-drone. The raw product - your basic nuts and bolts making up Nibiru - are, well, damn near flawless. The riffs are rough, chaotic and often soaring while the bottom end gives Qaal Babalon that necessary crushing weight. The full picture is suffocating and hypnotic. It's pretty satisfying. Qualifying word here being pretty.

Here's where the idiotic metaphor comes in - Nibiru are a lot of fun, but they don't seem to create much of a climax at any point on Qaal Babalon. Unfortunately, there's no sense of mystery here. No unexpected turns. No surprises. Maybe that's fine. Maybe you listen to this type of music for meditative reasons, and don't necessarily require any meaningful peaks. If that's the case, you might still find yourself just slightly underwhelmed, mostly because of the vocal placement in the mix. Let's not be mistaken, the vocals are a phenomenal, deep rasping that fits the music flawlessly. The issue is with the producer on this - the vocals feel slapped on top, rather than an actual part of the music. Ghosting them entirely would have been a waste, but burying them even just slightly could have done wonders for the atmosphere on Qaal Babalon, probably pushing it from "good" to "great".

Don't let lousy metaphors distract you, Nibiru is well worth checking out. Just don't expect sonic orgasms.

*Welcome to the internet, Grandpa.





Written on 03.10.2017 by Former EIC. Now just a reviewer guy.


Comments

Comments: 3   Visited by: 95 users
03.10.2017 - 13:23
mz

Well nice to see a Doc review again after a couple of years.
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Giving my ears a rest from music.
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03.10.2017 - 20:25
Auntie Sahar
Drone Empress
Nibiru are some pretty great drone, all the members involved have had backgrounds previously being in various black metal, industrial, and dark ambient bands, and with Nibiru you really hear all of those past influences being channeled into the final formula. Haven't gotten around to this one just yet, but given how much I enjoyed Padmalotus, the last one, I'm pretty eager to hear it. Good review and happy to see your name on the home page again
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I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go.

~ II. VII
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30.12.2017 - 05:58
Rating: 8
BitterCOld
The Ancient One
Ear-markedit long ago on bandcamp, finally got around to checking it out for the MSAs. Enjoyed it, concur with yer score.
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get the fuck off my lawn.

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