Iwrestledapandaonce, true story and it was rather bloody in the end. Actually I lied, pandas as you should be aware are not quite as cuddly as they look, hell being an endangered species they need to have their wits about them in order to survive. As far as Bloody Panda the band are concerned not everything is black and white, they are from that hotbed of experimentation New York City and comprise of four guys playing a wide array of instruments and Japanese lady on vocals. ‘Summon’ my first real encounter with them made an instant impression. Apparently singer and visual artist Yoshiko Ohara moved from Japan to NY and found band members through an advert in a record shop. They got a fair bit of notoriety for their stage shows which saw them performing in executioners hoods and robes and released first album Pheromone in 2007.
This is arcane sounding, avant-garde, drone-doom in a nutshell and as opener ‘Gold’ literally shivers in and shudders, you are summoned to worship the riff. The vocals here are at first ethereal and really beguiling, music slowly unravels in a ritualistic sense and I can immediately sense that this lot would be a really interesting group to see live. Rising to a blood curdling scream vocals get very scary and one wonders just what ghastly blood sacrifice has been offered here. Although rooted in the present there is a sort of 70’s vibe to the music, partly perhaps due to organist Blake McDowell’s contribution, other instruments listed include tabla and rim percussion apparently and these add to the otherworldly mystery of things. Fragmented guitar riffs echo abound on this first number and it reminds me a bit of a collision between ‘Ordo Ad Chao’ Mayhem and drone cosmonauts SunnO))) who I am sure this lot have probably shared a stage with.
Belting out full throated witchy screams on ‘Pusher’ sees the vocals and instrumentation rising to a crescendo, backing vocals from Bryan Camphire boom in the background too and everything hones in at you with a terrifying intensity. The short ‘Saccades I’ replicates the sound of a droning tumble-drier and shakes the foundations before sprawling guitars and organ join the fray on part II and this organically twists and turns all over the shop. Centrepiece is the cataclysmic ‘Miserere’ a 20 minute number which has humungous shaking and quaking drum volleys adding to the dramatic tour-de-force behind the doom dropping precipice this has you falling into. The full release comes with a DVD abstract visual interpretation of the number which I am sure is likely to be equally as involving. Extending ideas into a further 2 tracks, the maudlin ‘Grey’ certainly living up to its name the album finishes after a trance inducing hour in length, leaving you to snap back into consciousness with the sound still reverberating in your ears.
Bloody Panda leave you feeling like something has been snarling, slashing and mauling you and this has left me wanting to hear more and see them live. Summon is an intriguing mix of both Eastern and Western ideas that is well worth checking out.
http://www.bloodypanda.com
http://www.myspace.com/bpanda
