Birds Of Nazca – Héliolite EP
Birds Of Nazca – Héliolite EP
Self-Released
Release Date: 05/05/2023
Running Time: 19:06
Review by Dark Juan
6/10
Dark Juan is your friend. I support everyone to the best of my ability and I especially support those people for whom life is not as easy as it is for me, although I am a total moaning bitch and will get my panties in a massive knot at the slightest provocation, like the fact that I cannot type as fast as I think and therefore it is my computer’s fault and not the fact that the fucking incompetent meatsack operating it that might actually be more than a bit useless. Ethnic minority? Please make friends with me and tell me all about your culture because I want to know all about it and through friendship and dialogue peace lies. Transgendered? Not an issue for me, my friend. I love everyone regardless of gender identification or anything. Gay or lesbian? Again, Dark Juan is all about love and it is none of my fucking business which set of genitals you prefer to play with and it makes no difference to you as a friend. Ditto what you identify as, be it without gender, intersex, pansexual or fucking whatever. As long as you are a decent sort, you are OK with Dark Juan. However, there is one exception to this. Paedophile? I will kill you by fucking INCHES, you depraved fuck. Dark Juan is not a fan of child molesters and rapists. In fact, Dark Juan would hang them all personally and laugh while he was doing it.
This, as usual, has nothing to do with what we are here to talk about and that is Nantes, France-based Stoner/ Heavy Psychedelic instrumental duo Birds Of Nazca. They have been placed on the patchouli-scented, essential oil anointed, slowly spinning Platter of Splatter™ and the odyssey into our own subconscious has begun…
A short intro leads into opening cut ‘Inti Raymi’ which incidentally begins with drums in the right ear and guitar in the left and briefly I thought that the band had recorded this on some kind of eighth-hand Bontempi cassette player, but thankfully these French freakazoids soon put Dark Juan right with an absolutely thunderous, organic, valve-driven sound that levelled out nicely. The production is unusual as the cymbals flit from ear to ear through my cans according to their pitch, and there are times where the bass drum buzzes as it is that lo-fi. There is no bass player in Birds Of Nazca, and guitar slinger Guillaume puts in a heroic performance covering both high end leads, some nice blocky riffing and also hitting the lower strings to get some bass in there.
Death From Above. Birds Of Nazca are a Psychedelic Death From Above. It just hit me then.
The second composition is called ‘Spheniscus’ (which is the genus that penguins belong to – you aren’t fooling me, Birds Of Nazca) and this is a sprawling, expansive piece of music that builds slowly around a deceptively simple riff to a shuddering crescendo and then falls gently back into the afterglow of serenity after giving everything of itself. What it has to do with penguins I am yet to divine but what the hell, it’s a decent tune and there’s enough to hold my interest regardless of the lack of vocals.
The final cut on this EP is called ‘Gucumatz’ (Snake god of the Maya people, fact fans!) and it starts off in a very Tool-like fashion before picking up the metaphorical skirts and haring off to where the psilocybin is in the undergrowth and necking as much of it as it can. A slow grind through mystical forests chock full of strange light effects and animals that can have conversations with you about the depths of the human condition, there is a dark/ light dynamic going on that’s pretty effective. The central part of the piece dials down the Stoner rock and returns to a lighter, more drug-fuelled exploration of the navel and the interior architecture of your own thoughts (this is a mistake if you are Dark Juan, although I am considering microdosing just to see what happens – the problem with this is that Dark Juan’s internal monologue and architecture is flashing blades, roaring machine guns and explosions, kinky, blood-soaked sex and a battle for survival in a slaughterhouse without end where human meat is harvested endlessly and the remains, the bones and offal are either thrown to feral packs of animals engaged in their own bitter and savage struggle for survival or burned in colossal furnaces that power the rattling chains and squealing production lines… Sorry) and encourages you to go and seek knowledge within yourself. Again, this is a thing which Dark Juan should not do as Dark Juan is not going to like the answers he gets.
To draw this (more than usually vehement) rant to a close then – Birds Of Nazca are a very good duo who play music that you really need to be tripping your balls off to to get the full benefit from. Listening to them sober is a fun experience, but your faithful correspondent feels that these two gentlemen appear to be holding back somewhat – as if they are trying to target a specific audience rather than just letting the music take them where it will, and this leaves the listener a little cold towards them. I found it difficult to engage emotionally with the music and this reduced my enjoyment of the band somewhat. The production job was very unusual too – there’s all manner of uncomfortable and abstruse buzzing as if the instruments were overloading whatever equipment the band was using at the time and, although it lent the music a pleasing human quality, did distract somewhat from the whole experience.
The Patented Dark Juan Blood Splat Rating System (Le système breveté d’évaluation des éclaboussures de sang Dark Juan) was disappointed by Birds Of Nazca because it feels they could be amazing beyond words if they let the music flow, rather than holding back what is clearly desperate to escape, and therefore awards them 6/10 for an EP of significant promise, but with significant flaws.
TRACKLISTING:
01. Intro
02. Inti Raymi
03. Spheniscus
04. Gucumatz
LINE-UP:
Guillaume – Guitar
Romuald – Drums
LINKS:
Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Dark Juan and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
