Filthy Music Review - 'Odradek Room: Bardo. Relative Reality'

Odradek Room – Bardo. Relative Reality (2013)

Hypnotic Dirge Records

Review by Jude Felton

I’ll tell you right now, my Ukranian is not so good, in fact it’s non-existent. I only tell you this as Odradek Room is a band that hails from the Ukraine, and as such I really do not know what they are singing about. Not that this matters in the slightest, as this band, who are named after a Franz Kafka short story, have delivered a belting debut album.

Bardo. Relative Reality is an album that you can completely immerse yourself in, with its many layers and textures that range from the beautifully mellow to downright heavy as hell. If you are looking for an easy listen, I’d suggest going elsewhere but then it would be your loss. Odradek Room’s music is probably best described as progressive death doom post-rock. Yeah, I’m not too keen on labels either, but then again Odradek Room isn’t an easy band to pigeon hole. For me personally, I heard elements of many musically styles, and instead of it sounding like there was too much going on, it all fuses together perfectly.

What helps this album out no end is the terrific production, which allows every aspect of the music to breathe and unfold like a beautiful tapestry. Some albums will hit home on a first listen, then quickly fade from memory, whereas an album like Bardo. Relative Reality demands you focus on it, allowing the myriad of styles to be fully absorbed, which in turn will prove to be a very rewarding experience. 7 tunes in just under an hour gives you a hint at what to expect; you aren’t going to get any 3 minute ditties here.

Bardo. Relative Reality is actually available to listen to, in its entirety, on Youtube, but I’d recommend buying the disc. Youtube has terrible sound quality, when it comes to listening to music, and it will not do this album justice. You’d be much better off slapping this puppy on your iPod, with a good set of head phones, or a good sound system. Believe me, it will be worth it as this album is quite a spectacular debut.

Tracklist:

1.  Theatre of Forms
2.  Inflorescence of silence
3.  A painting (digging into the canvas with oil) 
4. Suffocation 
5. Faded Reality
6. River
7. Cold Light

Bardo. Relative Reality is available now from Hypnotic Dirge Records. You can buy the album here on CD or Download.