Band:	Nibiru
Album:	Qaal Babalon
Style:	Drone, Psychedelic sludge metal
Release date:	September 22, 2017
A review by:	Doc G.

01. Oroch
02. Faboan
03. Bahal Gah
04. Oxex

It's been a few years since the term "edging" has happily made its way into contemporary parlance.* Now, it's hard to say what kind of twisted soul would submit themselves to such torture, but it at least makes some kind of sense when you hold it in context with a band like Nibiru.

Indeed, there is a noticeable parallel between that brand of solitary sexual masochism and this brand of psychedelic sludge-drone. The raw product - your basic nuts and bolts making up Nibiru - are, well, damn near flawless. The riffs are rough, chaotic and often soaring while the bottom end gives Qaal Babalon that necessary crushing weight. The full picture is suffocating and hypnotic. It's pretty satisfying. Qualifying word here being pretty.

Here's where the idiotic metaphor comes in - Nibiru are a lot of fun, but they don't seem to create much of a climax at any point on Qaal Babalon. Unfortunately, there's no sense of mystery here. No unexpected turns. No surprises. Maybe that's fine. Maybe you listen to this type of music for meditative reasons, and don't necessarily require any meaningful peaks. If that's the case, you might still find yourself just slightly underwhelmed, mostly because of the vocal placement in the mix. Let's not be mistaken, the vocals are a phenomenal, deep rasping that fits the music flawlessly. The issue is with the producer on this - the vocals feel slapped on top, rather than an actual part of the music. Ghosting them entirely would have been a waste, but burying them even just slightly could have done wonders for the atmosphere on Qaal Babalon, probably pushing it from "good" to "great".

Don't let lousy metaphors distract you, Nibiru is well worth checking out. Just don't expect sonic orgasms.

*Welcome to the internet, Grandpa.