Ommadon - V

Tracklist:-

1. V1

2. V2

After an hour or so of procrastinating, I've finally plucked up the courage to dive into the first of two Ommadon reviews I've been planning. Having witnessed them (in an alcohol induced state) at Doom Over Edinburgh in March and been the proud owner of this very record for a while now, I know that they're something else! They've recently released a new record called Empathy For The Wicked, which I'll be writing about soon, but I wanted to start with this gargantuan double LP first. A three-pronged approach by Dry Cough Records (UK), Burning World Records (NLD) and Domestic Genocide (USA) saw V released on heavyweight black double vinyl last year, with two tracks spanning over 85 minutes!

It’s pretty impressive to think the V was Ommadon’s first foray onto wax. As the buzzing feedback and windswept ambience of V1 opens the record up, it’s hard to think of a format more suited to their sparse and disparate doom. It’s also little wonder that Dry Cough Records got involved in it’s release. This is no instant fix and once you’ve pressed play, you’re in for the duration. Seeing them live at Bannerman’s in Edinburgh, with the guitar and drum-led noise bouncing off the curved, stoned roof was a sound and a sound to behold and listening to V brings back those senses even now. Like any doom band that’s as heavy as Ommadon are, there’s very little need for vocals. The live recording speaks volumes on it’s own. There’s no let up on V2 either, inspire of the slightly shorter playing time. It seems like Ommadon managed to capture the bleakness of their Highland recording setting perfectly on V. The doom/drone combination they employ of almost hypnotic. It’s to adequately describe how this record makes you feel without listening to it in it’s entirety. The pulsing guitar-led drone and drumming, which becomes blissful as it progresses, envelopes you from the off. As uncomfortable a listen as it may seem from the outside, if you’re in this far, you’re already hooked.  The latter half of V2 features some much-missed groove, but that doesn’t last long and it soon settles into one final prolonged drone-scape. As mad as it may sound, listening to V have been a cleansing experience, especially considering the busy week I’ve just encountered.

You can stream V here and grab it as a name-your-price-download:-

The double LP version is available from the labels below -

Dry Cough Records - http://www.drycoughrecords.com
Burning World Records - http://burningworldrecords.com/label/burning-world-records
Domestic Genocide - http://www.domesticgenociderecords.com

Ommadon Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ommadon
Dry Cough Records Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/DryCoughRecords
Burning World Records Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/burningworldrecords