Review: New Age Doom & Tuvaband – There Is No End
So, the album just goes on forever and ever?
(This article was written by Pingu Davis)
The Vancouver based band New Age Doom are no strangers to the diverse and stimulating styles of playing that you may hear on There Is No End, and honestly I had very mixed feelings as to how those sounds might clash together with the Norway based group, Tuvaband. If you listen compare any of New Age Doom’s pre-There Is No End projects to any of Tuvaband’s pre-There Is No End projects, you’d understand my reservations and curiosities about the collaboration.
This record truly has some interesting and catchy moments. You can definitely tell when the instruments are just classically “building up” into a more impressive and blunter climax, which I think is a marker of good song development. However, there are a few moments on tracks like “Intraterrestrial” where the “building up” is just so raw, I frankly wouldn’t have been disappointed if that’s as far as the two groups decided to take it. And although I enjoy those moments, I think where this project finds a lot of strengths is when it treads on the line of fun, catchy “loudness”, and the quieter moments like on the track Time Lost, where the strings/electrical components of the song turn into this cushion so that a really twangy and groovy saxophone can fall into the pocket.
As previously mentioned, this album is excessive and diverse. I found there to be this shuffle of different themes, all of which are different, yet familiar enough to be able to connect certain tracks/moments together and have it make sense. I would have to say that’s my personal favorite aspect of this project. The ability to diversify and balance out tracks seems to be possessed within this collaboration.
Percussion wise, I was thoroughly impressed with the drumming on this album, and like we’ve already seen, the drumming alternates between tasteful support, to shining on its own and almost taking over. The only time we really get any singing vocals is on the final track There Is No End. Admittedly this track did take a few listens for me to finally start warming up to it. This was largely due to my expectation of something familiar to what I heard on every track prior to this one.
In terms of bad for this album, well, I don’t think I have much to say. This project just feels nicely done. Not rushed, not performative, not out of place, but tasteful, organized, and impressive. I would definitely check this record out to scratch all of those jazzy, angsty, thrashy, and post-rock itches you have.
New Age Doom & Tuvaband’s There Is No End gets
4.5 out of 5 Toilets Ov Hell
Listen to the album on Bandcamp.
