Sunday, December 27, 2009

BLOODY PANDA – Summon CD review


BLOODY PANDA – Summon CD
Profound Lore Records

Once in a while you’ve just got to scream “ENOUGH ALREADY” when it comes to the hipster avant-garde worshipping crowds who place bands like this upon pedestals. That was the case with this band’s 2007 debut Pheromone which had certain review scum on their knees with tongues out salivating. I didn’t see what the big fuckin deal was then and I still don’t see it now. BLOODY PANDA are basically a recreation of THORRS HAMMER, the differences being that they’re from Brooklyn, NY and it’s not 1996.
Albeit these New Yorkers have seen their far share of actual sludge, the Sludge Doom sound recipe is still pure THORRS HAMMER. Stephan O’Malley could be banging out these riffs in his sleep which is kind of an oxymoron if you think about it. The female muse here is Yoshiko Ohara whose vocals are more on the airy choral variety. She’s pushing on the hypnotic meter which might cure a phobia or two but otherwise it’s not excitement city. The subtle differences between the bands are that THORRS HAMMER was raw and powerful. BLOODY PANDA come off as bleak and monotonous with Yoshiko floating above the sea of Sludge like a water lily. There are keyboards added which are utilized as a background element of atmosphere plus the male background vocals remind you at times of demonic voices bubbling up from the muck. The main piece out of the seven cuts is “Miserere” a twenty one minute Sludge Doom opus. After nine minutes of repetition you lose interest in the music and wonder what kind of meandering you could focus on. I played this in the evening a few times trying to muster up some thoughts and ended up farting around on Facebook by taking a quiz to see what potted plant I was. Fans of this band also have moss growing on their bodies.

www.profoundlorerecords.com

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