Customer Reviews

Touched

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Doom metal, metalgaze, funeral doom... whatever. There are tons of different descriptors for this type of music but for me there are only really two bands that really sink in and get to the core of what this drone music is trying to express: jesu (who have much more structure to their material, especially after "Silver EP" and "Conqueror", and of course, Nadja.

I was really looking forward to this release after listening to their earlier re-release of "Bodycage". The first track on that album, "Clinodactyl" is quite possibly one of the most beautiful bits of fuzzy crushing ecstasy that I've ever heard. "Touched" is a bit of a mixed bag for me. "Mutagen" and "Stays Demons" are what Nadja is all about; gorgeous layers of noise.

Here's the benchmark for if you'll like this type of music: First, listen to My Bloody Valentine's shoegazing perfection album Loveless. Let that sink in for a while as you listen to it on repeat. The move over to jesu's Silver EP.jesu is has a much darker tone than MBV and is more bass heavy. Once you've hit jesu's Conqueror and absorbed that for a while then it may be time to move onto Nadja. "Bodycage", "Touched", and "Thaumogenesis" IMO are their best releases so far. "Truth Becomes Death" is another fine release by them but is not quite up to the standard of the other three albums. Also, look for the online, 21-minute "Numb" single by Nadja... another excellent song.

Nadja does heavy and does it well. Absent are fruity vocals or power riffs and chinas boring holes into your ears. Ambient Doom Metal, they call it. Whatever, it's good and heavy.