The sound of a train trundles away with ghost like voices in the background, the clank of the motion picks up and a fug laden ghastly vocal croak can be heard spewing up as though a passenger is being violently ill out the window. The train is leaving in the distance and a lone drum beat can be heard. I decide I may as well make a cup of tea, after all, I have all the time in the world as this one track ‘Nullify’ which comprises the whole of Dutch band Bunkur’s second album is apparently the longest doom track ever recorded, lasting no less than 77 minutes.
Perhaps early morning is not the right time to tackle listening and reviewing this, but is there a right time even? I wouldn’t want to be disturbed and lose the flow of what is a low humming throb and occasional drum hits and even less occasional catastrophic guitar strums. The speakers are not happy dealing with this download via PC. The right one is positively fizzing, I wish I had a Dolby button to try and cut it out; mind you the fizzing could be in my head.
I never heard the groups first full length ‘Bludgeon’ which was one track at a mere 65 minutes. I should probably be pleased about this really. What is particularly interesting is that this group have listed as a previous vocalist one Martin Van Drunen and as session members Wannes Gubbels (both of whom should need no introduction) as well as F. Caure who I am assuming is Fred ex Thee Plague Of Gentlemen and now Serpentcult. By the 15 min mark the drum hits are getting harder, the vocal howls more in your face and feral and the guitars peaking at more of a nihilistic and destructive crescendo. This is certainly mesmerising as is the weighty dr0)))))ne that is making everything shake around it.
The masochist in me is interested in seeing this live, the band must be a pretty terrifying proposition to witness on stage. They just played the Ashes To Ashes… Doom To Dust festival in Tilburg with a fantastic line up including Shining and Urfaust (who this mad conjuration reminds me of a bit), Switchblade and Sardonis (who I am at least catching in the UK this week). That must have been one hell of a show. Back in the present world I am coming up to the 30 minute mark. Although nothing has really changed, everything has got louder and more frequent. If I had been to the dentist in an age and had fillings they would be rattling in my head. It sounds as though all the kitchen has become demonically possessed and the fridge, tumble, drier, microwave and everything else are all going mental and trying to outdo each other.
45 minutes and still hanging onto the precipice of sanity, as it is debatable about the state of it in the first place this is something that might be to my advantage. There was a sudden volley of pretty much everything and I am 99.9% sure (as I thought so on a previous listen, yes I have done this before) that the words ‘Join Us,” were just hollered out in true Evil Dead fashion. Wow, now there is a distorted rhythm thrust out here and the instruments actually sound like they are playing something resembling an avant-garde melody, the plummeting bass line is particularly interesting here. Unfortunately it does not last more than 5 minutes or so and we are now back into a melee of vortex drones and juddering guitar and bass sloth. If you are expecting a race to the finish line you can forget it. There is none of that, white noise, feedback, yelling and discordance aplenty but nothing fast that’s for sure.
Well I think it’s safe to say that this is not going to be a release for everyone. It is the sort of thing that would be pure torture to some and maybe pure bliss to others, the sort who like strong medication and playing with very sharp things. ‘Nullify’ does just that, it has emotion in it but it deadens at the same time. I would not say I enjoyed it, I would not say I hate it, I do not know if I will ever play it again although I have a feeling I probably will and on that l0))))))))ng note I am going to wrap this up whilst it disappears up it’s own arse; ah who was it that said silence is golden?
http://www.myspace.com/bunkur13
http://www.displeasedrecords.com
