Dark Buddha Rising : "Inversum"

My hunger for doom is the only thing that kept me from balking in the face of  an album comprised of two twenty minute songs. Songs over ten minutes are becoming my pet peeve in metal...unless it is done right so lets see if they can rise to the challenge of having that going against them. This is the band's fifth album and the first for Neurot Records so we can only hope that it means they feel the need to prove themselves.  They drone on for eight minutes until it begins to turn into a real song once the chanted vocals come in. To their credit the guitar sound is more organic than your average low tuned thunk powered by  vintage amps. Right before the ten minute mark the song begins to take more of a Sabbath like lurch. The vocals are effected and distanced in the mix at this point and they are running  the song off of an ominous drone. The once smoky riff begins to take more solid form as it locks in with the drums. Its a cool dark groove, nothing mind blowing. Some of the vocals layering is also pretty cool,  with the more tormented vocal sitting atop the chant. The song gain steam in the last few minutes and picks up the pace as the more anguished vocals come to the forefront.

The second song "Exo" lingers in the atmosphere for the first two and a half minutes, which is fine since they have another twenty two minutes to kill. Drums begin to set the tone with a minimal tribal pound. The guitar follows with a slow strum. It sounds like throat singing and a didgeridoo set up the arrival of the ominous pounding that drones you deaf. Ten minutes left and it feels like they really haven't gotten started yet. Some one is ranting over it for a few minutes, but nothing that would yet make this a song. Around the sixteen minute mark real singing begins to intone it's chant. They move into a heavier pound, but this change is really a matter of accents. Things build up  and speed up almost twenty minutes in making me think this could have easily been a six minute song at most.


To the band's credit this album does set some rather bleak post- apocalyptic tone that I like, and the album is well recorded and performed for what they are going for. I think the long winded nature would be better served streamlined and still get the point across, though I believe they accomplished what they set out to create here so you can't fault them for that. What that is that they created really is a one time listen for me since I quit smoking pot, but if you are looking for some music to light up the bong to then this would be recommended. I'll give it a 6. This album drops September 25th, check out one of the songs below.