Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Agonhymn - Doom Jazz (2007)

Sadly, this isn't an interpretation of Bitches Brew done in the style of Reverend Bizarre. Instead we have another fairly run of the mill drone-doom album of the "one long track broken into parts" variety. It's not all doom and gloom though; it appears as if half-way through the recording process, aside from "chucking a few shrimps on the barbie", Byrne and Brewer sat down
for a nice bong.

The first quarter of the song/first three parts of the album follow the usual drone template. Sporadic crunching guitar accompanied by drumming thats heavy on the crash and easy on the tempo. Come 'Doom Jazz Part 4' however, and you may be forgiven for thinking that Bongzilla have crept into the album playlist. It still plods along at barely walking pace, but is pulled along by a suffocating groove. '...Part 5' ups the ante again, with clean strumming leading into some altogether more frenetic riffing and '...Part 6' drops us back into Stonerville with the introduction of some Dixie/Muleboy style barbed wire gargling vocalizations. By the closing part however, I'd stopped paying attention and started skinning up.

The minimalist nature of drone-doom makes it a difficult genre to really stand out in. If you were sitting on the fence with regards to this style of music, Doom Jazz isn't going to knock you off. However, the more patient and/or drug riddled among you may glean some enjoyment out of it.

5/10

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