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NEPTUNIAN MAXIMALISM “Le Sacre du Soleil Invaincu” (LSDSI)
NEPTUNIAN MAXIMALISM “Le Sacre du Soleil Invaincu” (LSDSI)
By Dr. Abner Mality
Oh...my...word! What was that I just heard? Massive and strange even by the strange and massive standards of I, Voidhanger Records, Spanning over two hours and three albums worth of brain-melting musical experimentation, NEPTUNIAN MAXIMALISM (a monicker that doesn’t exactly roll smoothly off the tongue) takes you on a trip to India and realms beyond mortal perception.
This collective reminds me a lot of the late 60’s and early 70’s with the sound they create. That was a time of tremendous experimentation and boundary pushing that hasn’t really been equalled. There was no such thing as an “off limits” sign then and for NEPTUNIAN MAXIMALISM, there isn’t one now, either. “Le Sacre du Soleil Invaincu” is split into three parts...”At Dusk”, “Arcana XX” and “At Dawn”...and each one is linked to a classical Indian raga. The spirit and sound of India is palpable on every track here. Now I’ve always loved the drone of the tambur, the twang of the sitar and the rhythm of the tabla...such a mysterious and exotic sound! But if you have an aversion to that style, hitch up your robe and head in the other direction, pilgrim...because it is everywhere here.
The members of NM pretty much locked themselves in a medieval English church for four days and jammed away on classic Indian music. But to that music, they add drone metal so heavy that it would make early SUNN 0))) sound light and airy, along with huge doses of free jazz redolent of COLTRANE, MILES DAVIS and SUN RA and psychedelic rock in the vein of ASH RA TEMPEL. Despite having some super heavy parts, this is not metal in any sense. What it is, is a trip. Turn off all the lights in your pad, light up the incense, take a hit of whatever turns you on and turn this sucker up to maximum volume.
I will micro-encapsulate the whole thing. First part “At Dusk” is by far the heaviest and to me the trippiest, with absolutely massive drones and authentic raga licks. It ends in a long spacey synth drone before going into “Arcana XX”, which opens with the longest segment that features a tidal wave of twangs, plucks and pure Eastern sounds. That explodes into a totally chaotic free jazz style cacophony at high speed...probably the most “difficult” part of the whole package. It will test your will for sure. Then there’s a super sexy bass groove that forms the base for some psychedelic Tikka Masala jamming.
“At Dawn” brings back a bit more of the metallic undertone, but really, this section rambles over a lot of varied territory before finally ending with another epic, “Layakari to Offer To the Cosmic Serpent”, where sax, woodwinds and brass finally chime in, taking up the space that guitar would have earlier. As you might expect, it leads to a mighty climax and then a soothing final cool down of tambur drone.
Man, this is some trip, brother! This is like 10 years studying in a Hindu temple reduced to two hours of musical enlighenment. Above all, this is INDIAN. Check it out if your idea of heavy is more than just down-tuned power chords and double bass.
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