Originally commissioned as a one off performance for Roadburn festival, Waste of Space Orchestra comprises the entirety of the 10 musicians that make up both Oranssi Pazuzu and Dark Buddha Rising. On paper, this shouldn’t work – there are too many people and the cognitive dissonance between Oranssi Pazuzu’s psychedelic black metal and Dark Buddha Rising’s stoner inspired ambient drone seems too far a gap to bridge. However, after proving that there is a method and an incredible sound to their madness with their live performance in the Netherlands, the pairing have decided to make it a permanent affair with the release of their first album ‘Syntheosis’.
Despite being split into tracks, ‘Syntheosis’ runs together seamlessly, meaning it’s best consumed as a whole rather than extracting particular songs to listen to. As far as dynamic goes, the influence from Dark Buddha Rising seems to be the strongest, with elongated passages of dense atmosphere – glimmers of Oranssi Pazuzu flash through on occasion via a slightly heavier guitar section. The record feels at its best when it descends into chaos – ethereal tonality cascaded a backdrop of ritualistic sounding percussion and Jun-His’ sinister growls. ‘Seeker’s Reflection’ is an album highlight – bringing out the best in both band’s abilities to uplift listeners into other dimensions with the dense and other-worldly textures they create.
‘Syntheosis’ is a one way trip into outer space – inflicting a trance like state upon your being before delivering you into a black hole. Waste of Space Orchestra have perfected the art of composing completely captivating music that still has the ability to sound as though all 10 musicians are just freestyling for the entire duration. Undeniably some of the best experimental heavy music to have been released in a long time. Whether or not this partnership is lasting remains to be seen, however, the impression that ‘Syntheosis’ will leave on you certainly is.
(8/10 Angela Davey)
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