Album Details

• Artist: Nadja
• Album: Excision
• Label: Important
• Year of Release: 2012
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: patchen on 2012-02-07

Stories of Nadja ought to be  collected in a book of myths. The duo of Aidan Baker and Leah Buckareff consistently craft massive walls of sound whose colors and ancillary echoes are heavier and more satisfying than most band's final takes. "Excision" may be their crowning achievement. This 2 CD set of songs that were released on vinyl from 2007-09 are long, deep and majestic, but infinitely inventive.

Most of the tracks clock in over seventeen minutes, and though all find their solid ground in minimalism, there is no extra padding or lingering too long. From the chiming and primordial soup of "Spahn" to the cold industrial shriek of "Kriplyana," to the truly jaw-dropping density of "Kitsune (Fox Drone)," Baker's guitars and Leah Buckareff's bass create worlds. Their sound is the massive and suddenly invigorated new life as it forming, testing its power, flexing its growing appendages. There is endless depth in these eight long songs, each not so much constructed as summoned.

Though this is a look back, "Excision" shines the light on these older tracks and reminds us of their power and lasting effect. Nadja have yet to release anything less than daring and epic in scope, and this set only increases their ever-rising bar.

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