Nadja & Black Boned Angel - Nadja & Black Boned Angel (20 Buck Spin, 2009)

Nadja & Black Boned Angel - II


Well fuck. I only had to wait a fucking year for this to come out. May of '08, I reviewed Christ Send Light, the teaser EP these guys put out in anticipation of the full length, which was supposed to be out by the end of the year. Unfortunately, we ended up waiting until July for this bad boy to come out. The question is, was it worth the wait? Fuck. Yes.

Two epic 20+ minute tracks of raw doom bliss. However, these songs aren't quite as Jesu-esque as Christ Send Light and are much less accessible. They actually sound more like what you'd expect a collaboration between Nadja and Black Boned Angel to sound like.

The first track starts out all buzzing ambient, then it jumpstarts at about 6:30 and your walls start crumbling. Just gorgeous monster doom, tearing up your speakers. That doesn't last for too long, though. The beauty and percussion drop out and it morphs into a swarm of shrieking eels. An absolutely terrifying wall of sound that stays course for the last 10 minutes of the song. Like I said, much less accessible than the teaser.

As with the first song, the second begins with some ambience, an ocean breeze with a dark undercurrent, the impending doom easily recognizable. After what seems like an eternity of buildup, a slow drum beat makes it's way into the enormous mass of hiss. Seriously, this shit is fucking gigantic. Like a titanic black sun, pulsing in it's last moments alive, about to go supernova. Eventually you have no idea who's doing what. It's all one big fucking beautiful mess. But there is no final catharsis. Instead, all of that accumulation, the song itself is the explosion. And everything trickles out, loses steam, fades into nothing.

This doesn't even rank on a scale of epicness. It is too epic for labels. Regardless if you're a fan of Nadja or BBA or a total newb, this is fucking required.

Black Boned Angel & Nadja - Christ Send Light

Black Boned Angel & Nadja - Christ Send Light (excerpt)



I have had many experiences with studio recorded Nadja (and I look forward to the live experience with them and Grails on June 27th) but this is my introduction of sorts to Black Boned Angel. I say "of sorts" because I'm familiar with Campbell Kneale (aka Birchville Cat Motel), who just happens to be one half of BBA. But I know nothing whatsoever of the other half, Jules Desmond (of 1/3 Octave Band) or of BBA's sound. From what I read, they're heavy. And from what I hear on this collaboration with Nadja, together they're heavy as shit. Hardly surprising, I know, but still good news. Things would be much different if it were a collab between BBA and Aidan Baker (of Nadja) who deals in much lighter affairs on his solo outings. But no, this is not Aidan alone, it is he with fellow Nadjian Leah Buckareff, going all out with Black Boned Angel.

Christ Send Light is a teaser CD EP with a single 21 minute track, hoping to seduce you into buying not only this, but the forth coming full length by the duo that as yet has no release date (but is due out sometime in 2008). This one song, however, will not be on the full length. So if you want it, this is where you find it and nowhere else. It's released by Battlecruiser in an edition of 600 and the full length will come out on 20 Buck Spin with two more tracks, both over 20 minutes long. And if this EP is any indication of what the LP sounds like, then I'll be one of the first in line for pre-orders.

But what does it sound like, you ask? Well, in truth, it sounds a lot like Jesu (and you know I like Jesu), sans Justin Broadrick's soothing shoegaze moan. It's fuzzy, with walls of guitar feedback, some slow cinematic piano in the background, plodding drums that echo like The J&MC, and vocals courtesy of someone other than Leah (there's no liner notes, so sue me). The vocals are what really turn this into a pop song, though. You're always going to end up with some pop elements when you do the metalgaze thing, but strip away the sludge on "Christ Send Light" and you could have something that Sub Pop would put out.

I don't want to say this is better than anything Jesu has ever put out because I just love Jesu that much. But it is. And damn if I'm not fuckin' psyched about the full length coming out later this year. I will be all over that thing. One 20 minute track isn't nearly enough to last on repeat for an indefinite amount of time (for all I know, I might have to wait until the day before New Year's Eve), especially because I'm probably going to end up substituting this whenever I start jonesing for Jesu.