YGGDRAZIL was, or perhaps still is, an Italian band, whose sole release so far is “Settimo Grado di Separazione”. The album was originally self-released back in 2005, but has now been reissued by fledgling Italian label Psych-Up Melodies.
And it is a fairly challenging production we’re given the chance to re-experience on this occasion. Not that the music is extraordinary inventive as such, but it has been made and produced in a manner that will make it a taxing experience for most listeners.
Basically there are two different aspects to this bands compositions. On one hand you have relatively dampened, melodic sequences, where a mildly resonating light toned guitars caters for the main thematic aspects, supported nice and steadily by bass and drums, where especially the former may take on some intricate and energetic runs time and again. The other half of this bands stylistic expression resides well within the metal universe, featuring quirky, dark toned riff constructions of a kind and character that should please fans of bands such as Tool.
What sets this band slightly apart, other than this Radiohead meets Tool kind of dualism, is frequent use of psych-tinged guitar details and a somewhat original compositional approach. This is a band fond of twisting and turning the compositions throughout, often making it hard to keep track of the proceedings, and this CD will take both time and dedication to get familiar with due to that. Especially as they also alter and twist the instrument palette in the vocal passages. And when the vocals both in delivery and mix have been given a rather dominant position, keeping track of ever altering instrumental manoeuvres at the same time as a lead vocalist with a distinctly insisting presence that has been given a placement in the arrangements is vying for your attention, then loosing track of events is something that is bound to happen sooner or later. It’s only when you get to be highly familiar with this production that I guess you’ll eventually discover how much or not you actually like it, the first few runs through it will eventually be an exercise in keeping track of developments more than anything.
At best this is an intriguing band however. The loose fragmented dampened piece Lizard, that eventually settles into a build-up for the following intense piece Gig, is among the finer experiences on the CD. And final track Separazione, where Yggdrazil calms down ever so slightly their ever twisting and turning compositional development, showcase the band at their arguably best.
The end result is a somewhat chaotic, psychedelic-flavoured production that I guess will be mostly of interest to fans of Tool and to some extent Radiohead, at least those amongst them who tends to enjoy fairly intricate and challenging musical endeavours. Existing fans might also note that this reissue sports just over 30 minutes of additional material. These are low-fi, low quality recordings however, and as such mostly of interest to avid fans who’d like to listen to more material from this band no matter the quality of it.
My rating: 69/100
