ALBUM REVIEW: Panspermia – Nibiru

Italy’s NIBIRU have, since the release of their debut album, Casogen, back in 2013, established themselves as one of the more prolific and uncompromising acts within the countries vibrant underground scene. Combining the heady depths of drone and sludge with tighter, psychedelic elements, they take the punishing and enthralling sound of bands like SUNN 0))) and inject their own flavour into it, giving them a monstrous sound that only seems to get denser and harsher with each subsequent release. Their latest, sixth album, Panspermia, comes little over a year and a half since the release of their last record, Salbrox, and sees the band perfect and diversify their sound, making for an album that is a memorable as it is cavernous.

The album starts with the dauntingly long Alkaest. The track proper doesn’t kick in until around the five minute mark, when the thick ambience gives way to an intense cacophony of thunderous drums, discordant guitar work and acerbic vocals, that range from haunting baritones to caustic snarls, adding to the dense approach of the music. Crunching, rumbling basslines underpin much of the music, adding a punishing, murky depth counterpoint to the grating guitars that makes for a weighty sound. The music noticeably lightens as the song enters its second half, with a few melodic hints and a tighter sound breaking up the raucous and noisy nature of the songs opening minutes. It’s a brilliant, ambitious way to open the album that goes straight for the jugular rather than easing the listener in.

Aqua Solis, a similarly gargantuan, grotesque brew of droning doom, with psychedelic influences punctuating the primal, minimalist rhythms and making for an immersive and atmospheric sound. This gradually shifts into a grimier, sludge motif as the song progresses, with a dirty bassline and piercing lead guitars giving this a livelier and more urgent feel, with visceral vocal deliveries adding to this effect even further. Much like the previous track, it ebbs and flows between different, chaotic elements, resulting in an engrossing and vicious blend of heavier drone, doom, sludge and psychedelic that has more ideas crammed into its 20 minute span than many whole albums do.

Efflatus has a far more psychedelic sound, with bombastic ambience courtesy of the keyboards, and a primitive, percussive drumming style that draws the listener in. The spartan guitar and vocals also aid this sound, providing a dark edge to this offering with a crisper, more polished sound. The sudden, jarring lurch towards an intense, borderline grindcore brand of sludge with hair-raising vocals reminiscent of the more stygian corners of black metal, with the final minutes of the song opting for an extremely claustrophobic and oppressive sound that is more in line with the chaotic bent of the first two tracks, giving this song an incredibly eclectic feel that encompasses both extremes of the bands music.

Kteis, a relatively short, punchy affair at a ‘mere’ nine minutes, follows in a similar vein to the last track, with a domineering keyboard sound making this feel more like a piece of dungeon synth, with stark, repetitive motifs and booming percussion dominating the bulk of this track, with a few subtle flourishes from the vocals, bass and guitars creeping in on occasion, allowing the psychedelic and ambient parts to take centre stage. It may seem like a bizarre way to close an album as noxious and intense as this one, but it works really well, acting as a great pallet cleanser before sending the listener on their way.

This is a great slab of impenetrable dissonance that covers a lot of ground musically. It’s very rare to come across an album that covers such a wide range of influences without sacrificing any of its intensity or losing any of its appeal. NIBIRU‘s sound brings in everything from drone to psychedelic, which helps to keep each of these four songs interesting and engrossing despite their sprawling and monolithic length. Normally, incorporating the more grating and visceral aspects of this album’s sound would be alienating to a lot of listeners, but the band do a great job of countering the heavier sections of this album with some great melodies and some brilliant, lighter moments, something which cements this album as NIBIRU‘s best work to date.

Rating: 9/10

Panspermia is out now via Argonauta Records.

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