AINU Paint Compelling Post-Doom Landscape on Self-Titled Debut
~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~
By Billy Goate
AINU is a welcome new name to us, a three-piece heavy cinematic psychedelic post-doom powerhouse from Genoa, Italy (where many a band has popped onto our radar over the years, most recently Isaak). Here emerges today five soundscapes of the instrumental variety, part of the explosion in instrumental rock and metal that has emerged in recent years. The album is 'Ainu' (2024) which, besides being the name for the indigenous peoples of northern Japan, means simply "human."
First track is the stormy "Il Faro," which takes its name from The Lighthouse and appears to quote from an Italian language version of the 2019 film in its opening minutes. While I may not understand the dialogue, I can tell that there's a lot of passion and fluster in the words, and contrasts with a backdrop of eastern drone and psychedelic post-metal atmosphere, gathering like massive rain clouds.
The full band drops its weight two-minutes in and caught away in a swell. From the get-go we notice Ainu is a band that's quite confident in itself as an instrumental unit. The collaboration between Dani on guitar, Jacco on bass, and Gelso on drums is tight. Each instrument is deftly captured on this recording, the bass in particular has lots of clarity and plenty of oomph. It rewards listening with earphones, especially, but you can open up your speakers with this one and give the benefit of a full room -- the sound will claim it all. Listen for a key moment of transition 5:20 in with a warm, doomy bassline.
In many ways, this 12:43 piece mirrors a day on ocean's cliffs overlooking the waters and experiencing moments that are turbulent, mysterious, and serene. It is indeed cinematic in its vision, and this applies in many ways to the evolving scenes that follow.
Likewise, second track "Aiutami A Ricordare" (which means "Help Me Remember") generates big, rumbling sound in the service of a broad tapestry (it also makes its big splash around 5 minute mark with swinging bombast.
"D.E.V.S." and "Khrono" (the latter featuring guest musicians Francesco Bucci and Giorgio Nattero) reference the American science fiction thriller television miniseries D.E.V.S. and samples from the show here and there. The first two-minute track begins with surreal and calming ambience, but soon errupt into second -- a strumming, churning, tremelo-filled current. It's easy to get swept away in the momentum.
Whether you're listening intently, riding, or doing something else around the house, these songs always find a way to pull you into their moods, and here it is serious, searching, and tumultuous. "Krono" ("Time") ends with some of that broad, brash tossing back and forth Yob energy.
"Call Of The Sea," while not the longest, is certainly one of the more ambitious of the record and closes this cinquefoil journey out. The band takes time to build the story, and one could picture themselves picturing the landscape from a seagull's view. After three-and-a-half minutes of development comes the brake-squeaking dissonance announcing a transition, which comes with cymbals, watery reverberating strings, and a bass riff which you almost want to go on forever. It's Bongripper worthy stuff, but not meant to a barnstormer here, just enough gravity to keep our feet planted while our heads sail far above with the whirling, misty ambience of echoing loops and Lili Refrain's remarkable guest vocals. It's not really important to know what words she is singing, so much as to experience it, for it is beautiful and enchanting.
Ainu's self-titled debut comes out June 28th via Subsound Records on vinyl, compact disc, and digital format (get it here).
Give ear...
Ainu by Ainu
SOME BUZZ
'Ainu' is a concept record that moves between powerful and stirring soundscapes, building up at a slow but steady pace between psychedelia and post-metal, stemming from the Genoa trio’s passion for cinema and their close relationship with the sea, its stories and creatures.
Featuring special appearances from Lili Refrain as well as Francesco Bucci (Ottone Pesante) and Giorgio Nattero (Carcharodon), this album is an intense, emotionally dense experience that uses the descriptive foundations of seamen and the calls of huge animals to recall the connection between the sound and the environment. An electrifying and contemplative journey for the heart and soul of heavy music lovers.
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