Nadja / Atavist / Satori - 'Infernal Procession... And Then Everything Dies' CD
(Cold Spring Records)

As the cold and dark winter nights draw in, the ominous pull of the season tugs hard at our minds, bodies and souls. The majority of us have an instinctive reaction to try to fight and turn our back on it, although we know full well it's a battle against the forces of nature we can't win. Instead it slowly drags us down, and the bitter winds chill us to the bone. But of course it doesn't have to be like this. Out of the darkness there is beauty, rebirth and something to relish if you look hard enough, whether it be the climatic changing of the seasons, the insanity of the seasonal shopping that always follows suit, or the awe-inspiring presence of winter as it envelops everything in its path.

And from this season comes something to relish that takes away the bite of the cold, but which, if nothing else, will draw you deeper into the darker recesses of nature with an imposing force and presence that is, for those with a love of powerfully bleak music at least, impossible to ignore, the UK tour of Nadja, Atavist and Satori.

To coincide and commemorate this coming together of this trio of superbly powerful projects, Cold Spring have released 'Infernal Procession', an album presenting one track from each of the three bands which shows why there is such an air of excitement and trepidation surrounding this tour, not only from dark ambient and industrial fans, but also from those with a passion for metal, doom and noise.

'Infernal Procession' opens with Canada's drone / guitar noise duet Nadja and their epic 13-minute plus behemoth 'Time Is Our Disease', which sees Aidan Baker and Leah Buckareff producing gigantic swathes of dense, fuzzed-out walls of guitars, bass and drums. The pace is slow and sludgy but immensely powerful to almost overwhelming proportions. It sticks to your skin as the intensity of the track encases your senses whilst it engulfs you. With a phenomenal amalgamation of drones, noise, melted sounds and a subtle wash of melancholic pop sensibilities, influences are littered throughout - early Swans, My Bloody Valentine, Sunn O))) and even post-rock icons Godspeed You Black Emperor! and ..:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Japan's Mono are all there, but only as brief reference points that Nadja strip down and remould into a powerfully moving cacophony of sound of their very own. With the addition of almost whispered vocals and the increase in pace, the track appears to constantly evolve, whilst keeping its grip on the
listener steadfast. It personifies the sound that Nadja have become renowned for over an impressive array of releases perfectly, and demonstrates why, with every release, the duo constantly build a larger fanbase and an ever-increasing wave of excitement. If this is your first taste of Nadja and this shoegazing / doom / dark ambient epic has whetted your appetite sufficiently to want more of this pair, then a recommended next step is the 'Skin Turns to Glass' album, and after that anything the band have touched, as a dark brooding thread of quality ties them all inextricably together.

Atavist's 'Certitude' follows, and after a slow-paced instrumental introduction that lulls the listener into a false sense of calm, it explodes with a cacophony of screamed death metal styled vocals and a bombardment of drums and guitars which are delivered with a venomous
ferocity, as bleak and unnerving, certainly, as some of the music which can be found within the black and death metal genres. However, whilst there may be slight similarities to these genres, Atavist manage to keep outside of pigeonholing themselves as such by the use of more ambient-esque passages separating the tirade of instruments and vocals. It's an odd combination, and certainly not the most accessible, even for those with a love of extreme noise and industrial, as it certainly leans more to the metal edge of things and after its 13-odd minute assault, the final group of this trio are certainly a sight for sore eyes, or even ears!

Bringing up the rear, metaphorically speaking of course, is the UK's dark ambient / Fortean electronics group Satori, who seem to have come out of relative hibernation over the last year or so with a number of new releases and live appearances to boot. With low-end rumbling and a distorted spoken word sample, Satori draw you straight into their malevolent world of the 'Abyss', a track just shy of ten minutes, overflowing with hypnotic and suffocating dark ambient soundscapes that pulse and breath like a living creature. With a brooding presence and an intense nature, they create a subtle amalgamation of aural textures, immensely deep with fragile layers and washes of sounds that help create the pitch-black atmosphere and intensity which fills this track. Sitting rather nicely within the more chillingly ominous recesses of the dark ambient genre, it's easy to see why Satori are creating such an air of
interest around their current activities. On the strength of this track alone, it certainly ensures that more investigation is warranted of their output, both live and in the studio.

Housed in a bleak six-panel foldout sleeve and with a running time of just 35 minutes, this split release will not only act as a brilliant jumping-on point for those who want an introduction to any of the bands, but also a very welcome addition to those who have a love of one or all of them already, and is as such a very welcome and enjoyable, if immensely dark,
addition to the wonderfully depressing nature of the winter season.

A fantastically compelling release indeed, and just what's needed in order to help embrace the long, dark winter nights!

Lee Powell

ATAVIST / NADJA   II: Points At Infinity

Document number two in the ongoing collaboration and joint low-frequency brain massage between the uber-prolific ambient sludge duo Nadja and minimalist UK doom architects Atavist, released by the consistently amazing underground metal label Profound Lore. This disc features two twenty-two minute pieces, titled "Projective Plane" and "Closed Curve" respectively, and if you didn't get a chance to hear the first collaborative album that these cats put together last year, well, this isn't exactly the bonecrushing slugfuck you might expect.

Both of the tracks are sprawling and spacious, and the first opens with a plaintive guitar melody hovering above a field of whistling drones and deep tectonic rumblings, the muffled guitar and downcast minor key melody resonating across the softly roiling dronescape and eventually joined by a chorus of male vocals chanting in harmony. Once these vocals emerge, the sound becomes a bit darker and more ominous and the guitar melodies begin to unravel and break apart and float across the darkening plane of subsonic rumblings and swelling low end drone, beautiful and mysterious sounding but becoming more and more abstracted until it fades into an elongated feedback drone that disappears into nothingness.

And the the second track suddenly appears amidst a swell of metallic shimmer and feedback, exploding into the big riff, a huge crumbling minor key dirge that definitely sounds like what we were expecting from these two bands combining their sounds together, a massive grinding riff, simple but pulverizing, and encrusted with overdriven feedback and distortion, repeating over and over atop huge pounding drums, and joined by a constant panic siren of feedback. The metallic crush only lasts for about seven minutes though, a brief avalanche of bottom heavy sludge that slides to a halt and becomes a sprawl of nebulous atmospheric feedback and humming amplifiers. Clean guitars come back in, along with waves of feedback and freeform, almost jazzy drumming, swells of cymbal shimmer and cello-like strains as the song becomes an eerie dronescape that stretches out for more than twelve minutes. This last half of the song is super abstract and mysterious sounding, filled with deformed sludge riffs and surges of Sunn O)))-esque amp drone, that quasi-jazzy percussion that reminds me of those recent discs from Pentemple and Burial Chamber Trio, reverberating notes suspended in blackness, and horrific blackened shrieks that scuttle over the blasted landscape of drone and guitar noise.

The album is more abstract and intangible than what I'm used to hearing from either band, but together they make some amazing far-out ambience that on this album manages to channel some serious heaviness. Cool packaging, a six panel digipack with strange mystical artwork that adds to the esoteric dimesion-tripping vibe. Recommended.

Atavist / Nadja - II: Points at Infinity
 
by Cosmo Lee / Invisible Oranges

Speaking of collaborations, Atavist's first one with Nadja, last year's 12012291920/1414101, was copacetic, with spooked melodies yielding to menacing death rattles. But it begged the question: would two of the heaviest bands around get together to drop the hammer? II: Points at Infinity (Profound Lore/Invada, 2008) answers with a doomingly resounding yes. Like the first collaboration, this one has two tracks, each about 22 minutes long. The first glides on surprisingly naked chords, with Thom Yorke-esque crooning way in the back. But the second is the money shot. It drops the boom pretty much straight off, plodding through big, melodic chords that darken into a churning undertow and shards of feedback. Then it pulls back, the smoke lifting to reveal scorched earth. It's a dynamic journey that finds the bands willing to bloody their hands; their previous collaboration had a whiff of not wanting to step on toes.

Actually, they've never been in close enough proximity to step on toes. Aidan Baker from Najda says:

Both collaborations were done remotely, trading files through the mail or over the Internet. The first collab Atavist had finished their tracks and wanted an ambient artist to add some textural tracks, which Leah and I did (using guitar and bass). The second we reversed the process and Leah and I recorded some structured (albeit loosely) guitar/bass tracks to which Atavist added guitar/bass, vocals, and drums.

Atavist's Chris Naughton adds:

We recorded parts and sent them backwards and forwards to check the mixes etc. We've never been in the same room, or even physically met, but we are touring together in November in the UK, so all will change.

That's something to look forward to. It's interesting to hear band collaborations so different from their individual discographies. This pairing feels exposed and accommodating; by themselves, the bands are often overpowering. The live setting may retain that - or the bands could go for each other's throats.

Another one... From PaperThinWalls

Opening like a slow, creeping sunset, the latest Atavist/Nadja full-length, the two-song II: Points At Infinity, finds the British doom bringers and the Canadian ambient fuzz duo collaborating in the best possible way; each band pushing their own sonic limits while creating something unique together. By the time the 21-minute drone-opener "Projective Plane" closes its eyes, the stage has been sufficiently set for the album's jewel, the abrasive, doomy "Closed Curve"—if "Projective Plane" is the descent, then "Closed Curve" is the album's fiery core. "Curve" blends swelling feedback with a plodding doom riff. Cutting through this determined cadence is a stream of high-frequency drone, which perfectly complements the harsh cries of Atavist's new vocalist, Matt Bartley. The main riff slowly evolves until the wall of percussive doom peels away, the space gradually filling with the throbbing psych-fuzz of Nadja's Aidan Baker and Leah Buckareff. Baker and Buckareff lead the way until the end, ambling through an ambient landscape with the Atavist guys adding bass/drum/guitar accents and Genesis P-Orridge–esque vocal oddities. The constant bed of minor-key synth pads allows the distorted elements to come and go without distraction. At the end, Atavist and Nadja begin the process of subtraction, until we're left with just a single guitar line and a sense of dread.

Hi All,

We've updated our myspace page so that you can now purchase our releases directly from us. Go have a look at the profile and see if there is anything that you would like.

All CDs that are purchased Monday-Friday will be sent on the day of purchase.

Thanks
Chris

ATAVIST / NADJA II - Points At Infinity (Profound Lore) 

Phew. For a minute there we were worried we were gonna go a list without a Nadja or Aidan Baker disc. But fear not, we're safe! At least for two more weeks.

Team up number two from UK sludgecombo Atavist and doomdrone duo Nadja, and much like the last disc, which sort of threw us for a loop as we were expecting some serious sludgey bombast, the first of the two tracks here is all blissed out and dreamy, a churning 20+ minutes of downtuned minor key guitar shimmer, deep whirring bass rumble, locked into a looped cyclical meander, the various spidery melodies intertwined and loose, layered and abstract, stretched out over a deep blackened canvas of undulating sonic swells, darkly ominous but quite hypnotic and mesmerizing. But then comes the CRUSH. And it's massive, we only had to wait a record and a half for the metal payoff but it's a big one. Three guitars locked into a churning riff, the drums a massive pound, howled vocals buried in the mix, all the while a haunting high end drone seems to hover over the proceedings, woven into the chugging melee below. But this sudden explosion of poundage and riffery is short lived, after 6 or 7 minutes, the blissy downtuned metallic onslaught abates, leaving a swirling emptiness of distant percussion and soft fluttery feedback. The high end gradually transforms into lowend, and the track gets a bit SUNNO)))-y, deep slowed down riffs moving glacially under a blackened canopy shot through with glimmers and shimmers and muted sparkles, finally slipping back into a softly moaning drone, that drifts like smoke through a sky grey with ash.
Another droney, doomy, blissy and briefly metallic essential from these two masters of their mysterious dark art.

Aquarius Records.org

UK Tour with Nadja is almost sorted, this is now also going to feature Satori just waiting for 2 dates to be confirmed then its done.

21 Nov 2008 - Henry's Cellar Bar, Edinburgh
22 Nov 2008 - Manchester TBC
23 Nov 2008 - The Croft, Bristol
24 Nov 2008 - Birmingham / Midlands TBC
25 Nov 2008 - The Underworld, Camden London

We need help with the 22nd / 24th November if you can help, get in touch here or via email megatronmusic@yahoo.com

Chris

You can purchase your copy of Atavist / Nadja II Here: - http://www.profoundlorerecords.com//index.php?option=com_ezcatalog&task=detail&id=376&Itemid=99999999

Or http://www.profoundlorerecords.com if that doesnt work

NOW AVAILABLE ON SMALL DOSES RECORDS.......Atavist Side Project featuring Chris & Simon....

mên scryfa: the sky was troubled with the dread strength of the wind 3"cdr


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This is Very Limited..... Only 199 Copies.... Get Em Quick...
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