Jambinai - A Hermitage
8/10
South Korea has the world's highest suicide rate. The fact that this is quoted in Jambinai’s press release says a lot about this music.
Fusing post rock and traditional Korean music, this sophomore LP recalls Sigur Ros and Explosions In The Sky but the use of haegum, geomungo and piri alongside more standard (Western) fare produces a sound that is Jambinai’s own.
Wardrobe is a face-melting take on Ministry. Echo of Creation demonstrates mastery of the quiet - LOUD dynamic. For Everything That You Lost is a deeply moving piece of shimmering beauty. The Mountain builds from to a hypnotic, storm-like crescendo bringing to mind a blizzard on Mt Bukhansan. Only Deus Benedicat Tini misfired, being a barely listenable mix of Star Wars cantina band and Sunn 0))).
Abyss is the stand-out song. Over spoken word vocals bordering on rap, Ilwoo Lee lays down crushing power chords, Eun Youg Sim picks out the rhythm on geomungo and Bomi Kim's haegum squeals like a Chemical Brothers loop. The biggest surprise is closer They Keep Silence, which hints at Leftfield’s Phat Planet.
Jambinai have alienated audience in the home country with an audacious mix of east and west but they have created something original that manages to be by turns brutal and beautiful.
