Muyubyosha - Noč Na Krayu Sveta - review
Muyubyosha - Noč Na Krayu Sveta - review
Tracklist
01. Boundless Love / Resilience02. Redemption / Retaliation
A review by
Netzach April 23, 2021
Muyubyosha (Japanese for "Sleepwalker") is quite a fitting moniker for the music on display here. I don't know where this band gets off with these multiple languages, but Noč Na Krayu Sveta (Serbo-Croatian for "Night At The Edge Of The World") conjures up soundscapes that come off as sublimated nightmares, surely inspired by horrific sceneries but finding beauty in them, as if in defiance of surreal terror.
Consisting of two songs of equal run time and lasting less than half an hour, this album still has a lot to digest. The first minute made me believe I was in for a Blut Aus Nord ride, and there is definitely an aspect reminiscent of their 777 trilogy in action here at times, but Noč Na Krayu Sveta is by no means a one-trick pony. Driven by a borderline industrial beat in 9/4 time and a rhythm guitar that does not riff so much as it punctuates, "Boundless Love / Resilience" is tastefully drenched in reverb to the point that its submerged textures feel as much a part of the music as the actual performance, while not detracting from the listening experience by becoming too muddy. In fact, the only sounds that manage to soar above this somniferous murk are the searing, atmospheric, trebly lead guitar and the saxophone. Halfway through, the song collapses into a post-rock break, a calm before the storm of the breakneck black metal assault that tops it all off.
"Redemption / Retaliation" feels more like a continuation of the first track than a separate one, starting out in an aggressive, sludgy fashion that soon explodes into a blastbeat section only to mellow out into an instrumental movement characterized by atmospheric synth pads and jazzy bass lines not unlike what Dreadnought have been doing lately. It is a very dynamic affair as it soon erupts again, with ample opportunity given for the listener to appreciate the sound of high-pitched cymbals breaking through the wall of sound to try and make a permanent mark on the eardrums, only to die down into a similar interlude section again, adding an organ and then, why not, a flute to the black metal crescendo following.
Vocals are sparsely used, and mostly for atmospheric effect, drowned in reverb and placed way behind the instruments in the mix as they are. The sound is in constant flux, but even between the two tracks there are many common reference points to be found, such as the soaring, melodic tremolo guitars accentuating the album's more intensive movements and the off-beat machinery in the percussion. At less than half an hour, Noč Na Krayu Sveta never wears out its welcome, and rather leaves me wanting for more.
Despite all the different influences on display here, from lo-fi '90s black metal to jazzy post-rock to industrial ambiance, it is all quite accessible and easily digested while sounding full of purpose rather than pandering to any particular genre. Hey, if you're having nightmares, might as well do like Muyubyosha and sublimate them into beautiful ones, no?
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 8 |
| Originality: | 9 |
| Production: | 7 |
Written by Netzach | April 23, 2021
Comments
Comments:
13
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Posts: 9641
This is definitely one of the best bands out there in terms of having their music actually feel dreamlike.
---- Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking One day there will be no heart at all?
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Posts: 1281
Congrats on getting on the front page !
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Posts: 1761 Written by Roman Doez on 23.04.2021 at 13:12 Yes, my opinions are now slightly harder to avoid. Cheers!
---- My "blackened synth metal" solo project: maladomini.bandcamp.com. Whenever I write something funny, weird, or pretentious... I learned English by playing Baldur's Gate, okay?
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Posts: 1761 Written by Sand on 23.04.2021 at 16:15 Happy to be of use. Thanks for reading!
---- My "blackened synth metal" solo project: maladomini.bandcamp.com. Whenever I write something funny, weird, or pretentious... I learned English by playing Baldur's Gate, okay?
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 Posts: 8284 |
Posts: 8284
Welcome to the front page! Not my first choice of listening material but interesting album nonetheless, and this a pretty accurate review. The music is some sort of soundtrack of a prolonged hypnopompic hallucinatory state. Like what you hear while being half awake/conscious during the last Night At The Edge Of The World (which is a fantastic title for an album).
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Posts: 141
Awesome review dude!
---- Heavy Metal is the law that keeps us all united free A law that shatters earth and hell
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Posts: 1761 Written by nikarg on 24.04.2021 at 02:33 Thank you! Mm perhaps not my first choice either, but I was pleasantly surprised by this one. "Hypnopompic" goes on a mental post-it note for later use, new words, yay.
---- My "blackened synth metal" solo project: maladomini.bandcamp.com. Whenever I write something funny, weird, or pretentious... I learned English by playing Baldur's Gate, okay?
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Posts: 1761 Written by KaninStryparn on 26.04.2021 at 08:59 Thanks brother, more to come.
---- My "blackened synth metal" solo project: maladomini.bandcamp.com. Whenever I write something funny, weird, or pretentious... I learned English by playing Baldur's Gate, okay?
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Posts: 1761 Written by Rage10000 on 28.04.2021 at 01:48 Awesome, glad you're enjoying it, and it's heart-warming to know my review made you check it out! Yes, avant-garde generally makes me sceptical too, just like post or progressive does, because I think especially these sorts of music never work without really competent song writing. Avant-garde easily becomes a haphazard mess of ideas, progressive easily becomes technical noodling, and post easily becomes flat out boring. Even complicated music needs to be accessible somehow. For lack of a focus on riffs, hooks, and recognisable song structures, this album wouldn't have worked if not for the iconic percussion as fundament throughout, and if not for the ? soft/loud, post/ag, jazz/bm ? dynamic song writing. Since you liked this one, might I suggest reading my latest review (9.5) for a less ag, equally post, and more progressive album: Ophiuchi?Shibboleth
---- My "blackened synth metal" solo project: maladomini.bandcamp.com. Whenever I write something funny, weird, or pretentious... I learned English by playing Baldur's Gate, okay?
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Posts: 1761 Written by Rage10000 on 30.04.2021 at 01:51 And a fine choice for backing track, that is!
---- My "blackened synth metal" solo project: maladomini.bandcamp.com. Whenever I write something funny, weird, or pretentious... I learned English by playing Baldur's Gate, okay?
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