Nibiru — Netrayoni

Nibiru are a three piece project from Turin Italy who create a jammed-out, roughly ritual tinged, & often psychedelic brew of Sludge/Drone/Doom Metal. Netrayoni is the projects second release, and it comes in the form of a double CD album which the band have put out as a self released/yet pro-pressed edition of 300 copies.

The project started off in late 2012, and released Caosgon their debut release in early 2013.  Nibiru conists of: Ardath-guitar, Voice & Percussion. Siatris: Guitar, Vocal Mantras, Mini Didgerdoo, and percussion. RI- Guitar, Lithurgic Organ, Moog Sub And Moog Tarus. The bands sound is very lose yet heavy & sprawling  take on the doom genre- the jammed-out sound is deep with layers of:moog/ synth tones, guitar/bass/ sub-bass elements, sometimes chanted vocals, and the odd movie sample.
The three piece are at their most rewarding & captivating when they are set into longer 10 minute plus tracks; as one really gets the feeling anything can & will happen, as they stray away from the more set & structured elements of their sound into a more psychedelic/ at-times almost ritual charged atmosphere.

Each disc features five tracks a piece, and each of the tracks has a running time between three & seventeen mintues- with a total running time of the two discs coming in at just over an hour & a half.  Though the release is presented as one long album, to me it feels like two separated releases- as the first disc( subtitled First Ritual: The Kaula's Circle) feels more lose, tripped-out, and spontaneous, as well as having a less polished production too.  Where disc two’s( subtitled Second Ritual: Tears Of Kaly) tracks feel a little bit more polished in both their structure & production.  I enjoyed both discs, but I’d say if I had to chose disc one stands as the highlight of the set

On the whole both discs are fairly consistent through-out, with no really disappointing moments present- so as 2nd albums go this is pretty good going. A few of my highlights come in the form of : disc ones  17 + minute opener  "Kshanika Mukta", which starts out as a crawling, swirling yet heavy brew of spacey synth tentacles, buzzing doomed sub-bass tones, spiralling ‘n’ ugly guitar feed back, and mumbled ‘n’ buried vocals. By around the 5th minute the layers of sound have built up, and also the drums start to pick-up pace too, but just when you think it’s going to truly take-off we dip down into a thick mix of backwards percussion, weird dialogue samples, and psychedelic guitar trails. Pretty soon the pace once more dips down into a hazed yet damn heavy, ritual tinged & mind expanding strew that brings together swirling electo 'n' guitar feed back, wail ‘n’ growling vocals, rumbling ‘n’ churning bass tones, and panicked Italian movie dialogue. Around the 12th minute we get a rising retro organ weave, cleaner & wondering guitar soloing, mixed in with the lumbering  layers of doom guitar, bass, & cymbal heavy drums. As I’ve already said the greatness of this project sound is when they just seem to let lose & heavily drift off, and this track is a prime & excellent example of this.

Also on disc one is "Qaa-Om Sapah", and this just over thirteen minute track opens with three or so mintues of weird chiming ice like vibes, the sound of slicing knifes , backward buried vocals, swirling spacey synth trails, and a building/ malevolent ritual psychedelic vibe. After this tripped-out intro we move into a more consistent & up-beat doom rock beat, but really things are just as strange & ritual psychedelic as the mumbled vocals are roughly bounced & stretched into the jammed-out mixture of roughly soloing 'n' searing solo guitar mesh, which is slowly getting more engulfed with this purring ‘n’ buzzing effect pedal haze. Once again this track shifts & swirls through several different speed shifts, as new elements move in the tracks dense throbbing strew like sound…before towards the end we drift off into a great sinister mix of rumbling sub-bass & weird movie sample tipped psycho ambience.

And on disc two we have the just under 11 mintues of "Celeste: Samsara Is Broken", which opens with a searing, discordant yet damn moody mixture of buzzing bass tone, wailing guitar risers, & layers of weird Italian voices. By around the 3rd minute the drums smash in with a mid-pace beat, as the sound seems become even dense & mind expanding as vocoder licked male vocals are added to buzzing brew of guitar tones, amassed synth drone weight, and this wavering yet mood-setting slow eastern melody, as things just seem to get more & more huge 'n' pressing in thier feel.

So if you are a fan of dense, psychedelic & jammed-out Sludge/Drone/Doom Metal, that has an often quite unpredictable & loose vide to it Netrayoni is well worth your time & effort.