Dark Buddha Rising come with some reputation. These “dark underlords of psychedelic drone” attract words like occult and spiritual. Looking back on the reviews by different writers, they’ve always made a deep and positive impression. It’s my turn now.
“Sunyaga” starts off with a post metal type atmosphere of fear. Dark electronic drone waves and a solitary drum beat form the core. Amid the storm a distant mystical chant can be heard. The chant becomes harsh screams as the atmosphere becomes even colder and more inhospitable. So, this is the “pitch black psych-rock underworld”. Very doomy, as you might imagine. Not a lot happens here. It’s basically a void of penetrating noises. The pain goes on. If you like the sound of screeching brakes combined with whale noises, then “Nagathma” would be your choice. I like the bleakness of it and the monotony of the drum, as weird chants accompany those electronic psychedelic twiddlings. Hypnotic and trance-like, “Nagathma” takes us from placid nightmares to ones with blood-curdling screams and destructive forces. Ambient noises and a repressive drone lead us into “Uni”. This the most cinematic of the pieces so far. I could imagine a screen showing debris and other paraphernalia crossing a deserted landscape or something like that. I’ve seen this many times before. Like an electric storm it all descends into psychedelic chaos and continues with the accompaniment of a tribal beat into “Mahatgata III”. A distorted alien female voice peers through the drum beat and the monotonous gloom. A skill that Dark Buddha Rising have is to make a dark scene darker, and here they do it by toning the sound down into a fuzzy metal extremity and adding piercing screams. All the while, it’s downtrodden and depressive. Winds whistle and ghoulish sounds can be heard. Gradually the scene becomes more frantic and violent. And frantic and violent is how it is for the remainder of this fifteen minute piece.
Did “Mathrevata” stir my creative juices? I can’t say that it did. I quickly became accustomed to the dark and deathly world that I was in. For sure Dark of Buddha are good at creating nightmarish atmospheres, and building on bleak scenes, but for all its originality and intent, it doesn’t shock and I became comfortable with it, which surely isn’t the intention.
(6.5/10 Andrew Doherty)
Leave a Reply