Think of all the different mental images that come to mind when you hear a band with the name BONG. While some people may think of marijuana leafs, tie dye, and smelly bandanas, I picture sludge, heavy metal, and insanity. The new release from these Newcastle metallers is a creation that one may take in any direction they wish.
It would be difficult to see why this album is considered a form of heavy metal, as it does not involve your standard plethora of guitars with loads of distortion put on them. Rather, this record involves more of a softer sound and a dragged out hum in its background. One distinguishable characteristic that helps Mana-Yood-Sushai fall into the heavy metal genre is darkness.
The whole production contains only two tracks. The roughly 27-minute title-track opens with nothing more than a low-pitch, deep buzzing noise that remains constant throughout the entire song. Although it’s most certainly interesting to see a band that writes pieces clocking in at near half an hour long, believe it or not it’s been done before. However, a significant factor with this album is that it was recorded, mastered, and mixed in just two days. Very few vocals are present on the record, and they only consist of deep billows that perfectly fit this style of music. A taste that is extremely consistent and simple to go along with immense amounts of patience is required when it comes to Mana-Yood-Sushai.
BONG’s new masterpiece is one that drops itself in between the imagery of a heavy metal and hippie music scene. The transcendental aspects of the material push towards a meditative state of art while its classification of metal is attributed by the darkness of some of its riffs. On the whole, Mana-Yood-Sushai is a very interesting form of music that should not go unnoticed.
In A Word: Patient
