Najand - Death! The Best Solution!
This band has a rather interesting history. First of all, Najand is from Tehran, Iran. That’s not exactly a hotbed of Black Metal activity by any stretch of the imagination. If my knowledge of Iran is correct, being in a Black Metal band will probably get you killed by the Sharia police. I do know that blasphemy carries a death sentence under Islamic law. One of the reasons I wanted to hear this band’s music was because Najand is from an area that is so far outside the usual places where you get Black Metal. I’ve always been into the obscure bands from obscure places because those are the ones that usually surprise you by giving a different twist on a familiar style. Najand is the brainchild of Nazhand, the sole member of the band. The original name for the band was Nazhand, but that was changed after an ugly split between Nazhand and his former label, Metal Throne Productions. Under the name Nazhand, there were 14 demo recordings and 9 full-length albums. Once Nazhand decided to change the band name to Najand, he re-recorded and rereleased a bunch of those recordings, one of which is this LP, Death! The Best Solution!. The music of Najand is somewhat mellow by genre standards. It’s still Black Metal, but it isn’t very abrasive, nor is it very dismal. It’s a bit on the melancholic/depressive side, but I don’t think this is anywhere near SDBM (Suicidal/Depressive Black Metal) territory. If Varg from Burzum smoked a huge quantity of weed (I mean Snoop Dogg/Lion levels, not just a couple hits off of the pipe) and decided to do an album, it might sound a bit like Death! The Best Solution!. There is a definite Burzum influence on the minimalistic style and guitar tones. Najand also incorporates a number of acoustic interludes and various vocal styles to affect the mood of the song. The vocals go from a strangled shriek to whispered spoken parts to mournful clean singing (and pretty much everywhere in between). While the production is a bit thin, for the most part, you can hear everything pretty distinctly. Nothing is buried and nothing is overpowering. Given that this band is from Iran and that there is only one member, I doubt situations are ideal for getting great sound in the studio. I definitely found this LP to be interesting and regardless of what the band’s name is now, I’m definitely looking forward to hearing what Nazhand and Najand are going to do next.
(0) Comment(s)
Page 1 of 1 pages