Odradek Room
Bardo. Relative Reality
7 Track E.P
Hypnotic Dirge Records
Released 9th March 2013
Written for www.Brutalism.com
Odradek Room –
Ukraine, Russia
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Odradek-Room
Genre:
Progressive Melodic Death/Doom Metal
In the bands
own words:
“Named after
one of Franz Kafka's short stories, Odradek
Room is an atmospheric and progressive death-doom band with post-rock
leanings from Mariupol, Ukraine. Initially formed in 2008 under the name
'Shards of Silence', the band changed their name at the beginning of 2010, and
their first release appeared on the compilation of Doom-art.ru project.
Over time, the
band has developed and refined their sound for their debut album 'Bardo. Relative Reality.' Creating
dynamic and profound music, rich in tempo and mood variation, Odradek Room has crafted an extremely
strong debut which perfectly shows the duality between the aggressive and
melancholic sides of death-doom combining slow plodding riffs, soaring
emotional melodies, post-rock leanings, and a psychedelic touch to create a
rich canvas of sonic majesty.
Their first
full-length album, Bardo. Relative
Reality was initially recorded in early 2012 and self-released in digital
format. However, it was later decided that the album would be re-recorded to
fix up a few issues in the recordings, and that process is now complete. The
upcoming album, based on the ideas of the Tibetan Book of the Dead and surreal
images of the subliminal consciousness was released on Hypnotic Dirge Records
in March 2013”
The two words
that immediately sparked my attention on reading the band’s involved history was
Franz Kafka a man I particularly admire especially for his work called ‘The
Metamorphosis’ and to give you an insight here is a quote from it "As
Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed
in his bed into a gigantic insect. He was laying on his hard, as it were armour-plated,
back and when he lifted his head a little he could see his dome-like brown belly
divided into stiff arched segments on top of which the bed quilt could hardly
keep in position and was about to slide off completely. His numerous legs,
which were pitifully thin compared to the rest of his bulk, waved helplessly
before his eyes."
A tale of
inadequacy, guilt and disgrace emerges, but there is a twist in the tale as
Kafka wrote about the predicament of modern man in such a way it was comical.
To quote a
passage from Franz Kafka’s the Odradek
story - “The Cares of a Family Man,” the master of literary enigma invents Odradek, a weird domestic creature made
up of gnarled and knotted bits of thread, stuck around a star shaped spool. The
titular, troubled family man, who narrates Kafka's yarn, sees Odradek lurking throughout the crevices
of his house, and seems to know this monster well”
So this other
story from Kafka is not so dis-similar to ‘The Metamorphosis” and is somewhat
intriguing, which makes me wonder what knotty and gnarled up creature is about
to emerge through the spool that is the invention created by Ukraine’s Odradek Room – We shall find out...
Theatre of
Forms
A dark ambient
layer of melodic doom spreads its wings over some serious sound-scapes of
experimental shrill rhythms. It is all housed in a neat little box of
melancholic dream-like structures that interlock building a clearer picture of this
monster we know as Odradek and it
paints a sombre but interesting one. The vocals harsh and scathing really come
into their own on this beast of a track and work their magic.
Inflorescence
of Silence
The sounds of
creaking floorboards are heard the beast Odradek
has awoken and a clean vocal emerges from the crevices of a darkened room,
however the light shines through an open window and fills this room with an
overwhelming melody. Sung in Russian, which pleases me a lot. Although slow and
undulating it is not as oppressive as you would think and gives scope for more
intense patterns to emerge.
A Painting
(Digging into the Canvas of Oil)
Such a shame I
can’t understand a lot of Russian, but I do so love languages and the Russian
language gives this track intrigue as the encompassing experimental wall of
sound literally embellishes the ears and quickens the heartbeat. It is a very emotional track that literally
paints a vivid picture, be it a sad one as the melody is slow but striking in
it is approach. It contains a strong bass line that seems to be the foundation
of the painting and the streaks of paint on canvas can clearly be heard not
seen, as a startling shrill guitar swipes its angular rhythms creating a woven
and intricate design that flourishes as the chords reach their climax, whilst
the vocals are gnarly and serve to create the bleakness within the picture –
this holds so much for the listener to conjure up in the mind.
Suffocation
A slow ballad,
but still sung with emotion, deep and intense it carries a sombre array of
rhythms that slightly fluctuate and then smooth’s out completely. Holding
within its icy fingers a melodic swathe of beauty from within the gloom and is
extremely refreshing. The superb guitar solo gives the track perfect balance
and despite the title gives the listener clear air to breathe and wallow in, so
this begs the question is the beast suffocating in fresh air as it leaves the
safety of the crevices within the floorboards?
Faded Reality
A more demonic
feel feeds this track – the beast is fighting back and coming into its own
here. The evil rhythm holds within it an aggressive stance amid the striking
guitar and harsh beats dipping then to more icy depths with a tingling flurry
of keys that strike like rain, it unfolds into a more eerie grain of
encompassing fire. Tremendous feeling to just wallow in this melodic sway of
rhythms to the sound of a Russian voice that suddenly turns devilish. This is
powerful and will shake you to the core.
Odradek Room
River
A very
melancholic rhythm plods evenly to an intense beat with a sampled array of
mixed voices that join in the immense fluctuation of tempo and give it a
jumbled intrigue, whilst the guitar holds a steady melody until it builds to
one of the most powerful crescendos I have ever heard! Even the heart can’t beat as quickly as this!
A softer vocal harmony blends into the swell of rhythms and the tempo drops
like a pebble in a river forcing its ripples to spiral into oblivion.
Cold Light
A shrill
clanking emerges with a more subsonic sombre of heavy beats. It sounds
cumbersome as it moves slowly – the beast that is Odradek is showing his true colours and playing tricks to his
surrounding audience of intense aura, mockingly terrifying the vocals scream in
anguish and then return to a more inherent tone to a build-up of highly intense
beats that suddenly slow and diminish.
To Sum up:
This E.P will
paint some crazy images in your mind once you get to know Ordarek! Carving and creating a being from musical notes and
building rhythms that turn a surreal world into a unique encounter. Compulsive
tracks each one memorable in their own way have come together on one E.P. If you read The Metamorphosis or Odradek Room by Franz Kafka, this album
will simply come to life! Outstanding and completely innovative, and must be
savoured with relish!
Спасибо за
удивительный звук!
5/5
Track List:
Theatre of Forms
Inflorescence of Silence
A Painting (Digging into the Canvas of Oil)
Suffocation
Faded Reality
River
Cold Light
To Sum up:
Members:
Ilya Zernitsky - Guitars
Sergey Kuznetsov - Bass, Keyboards (2010-present)
Roman Borovikov - Drums (2010-present)
Artyom Krikhtenko - Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards, Sampling
(2010-present)
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