Richard HolmesDark Buddha Rising – Inversum (Neurot Recordings)
Genre: Doom
Want to fully experience the majesty of Inversum? Listen to it while walking through fog on a cold night (RUSHONROCK did!) and feel its magic wrap around you like a cloak.
Eerie, hypnotic, compelling – Inversum is the work of a band who are masters of psych’s black arts, who know how to use repetition to create trance-inducing soundscapes, who see doom as far more than a few recycled Sabbath riffs.
The Finns’ seventh full-length (and their first for Neurot) comprises just two tracks – E S O and E X O – both clocking in at nearly 25 minutes… enough time for you to find your inner cosmos, and go on your own little astral voyage.
If that sounds a little hippy-ish, don’t worry, as like Tyneside drone/doom lords Bong, Dark Buddha Rising carry enough weight to drag you down into a swirling vortex.
For instance, after around 15 minutes of E S O, you are faced with a monstrous, earth cracking riff that you perhaps weren’t expecting, yet makes absolute sense. And that’s the key to the opus: every moment flows into the next, every note counts, every drum beat takes you further on a sonic journey.
A breathtaking accomplishment, Inversum is one of the best doom albums you’ll hear all year, no doubt about it.
RUSHONROCK RATED: 8.5/10 Deep meditation