Naga "Inanimate"

"Inanimate" doesn't start off particularly brilliantly. "Thrives" isn't an instant "grab a hold of you" kind of a start to a record.  Slow picked strings give way to a totally predictable monstrous riff.  It does however develop into a thunderous, murky and yet never full on sludge type of an affair.  The solid repetitive riffs and powerful yet never over-imposing drums hold the whole track together really nicely.  All the while the vocals walk that aforementioned thin line between "blackened doom" and "sludge" style.

It isn't until track two "Hyele" that these Italians really kick things off though.  A more feedback, hazy ambient intro starts proceedings this time, building nicely into a much more chuggy affair soundwise.  What "Hyele" does more successfully than it's predecessor is combine the perfect amount of "black" with the requisite level of "doom".  Monstrous though the bass and riffs are they are tempered very nicely by an almost ambient tremolo between the more thunderous aspect's crushing passages.  The melancholic drone in the middle of the song balances atmosphere with actual instruments very well without you ever feeling the track has lost itself.


What is needed at this point is a real filthy, shorter to track.  Kind of like a little mud shower to wash away some of the pore inhabiting mire of the previous ten minute track.  Luckily "Loner" sits at this point to undertake that very task superbly.  Starting with a fuzzy, stoner riff and feedback it straight away stomps into a frenzy of uptempo yet solid percussion and harsh vocals.  It sounds like the perfect soundtrack to two tramps fighting under a bridge on a late autumn evening.  DISCLAIMER: to the best of our knowledge no tramps were harmed during the recording of this track.

Finally we end up at "TMWRRI" which the internet reliably informs me is a cover of "The Money Will Roll Right In" by Fang (I have no idea).  Anyway, cover or not it is a fine end to proceedings with the again more uptempo nature to the track which kind of helps the feel of the EP being a tale of two halves.  More monstrous and slow to begin, with the emphasis being on the doom before the second half takes over and becomes a much more sludge driven affair.

3/5

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