Drofnosura - I

DROFNOSURA - I
2014
Indie

For those who never get enough of sludge music and constantly seek the latest band in the genre, Drofnosura is the the new kid on the block. Hailing from Toronto, I is their first album. It's made of three long songs and was released online for a 'pay what you want' price. If the objective was to slip easily into all sludge geeks' iPods, it is probably working. I came across this album by cross-referencing different Canadian bands in the genre, and the least I can say is that Drofnosura was a pleasant surprise.

This first album is a perfect introduction to Drofnosura (which spelled backwards may sounds like a hipster joke). Moulded on the Fistula and Iron Monkey model, it displays slow patterns and an arsenal of fuzz, dirty pedal effects and feedbacks. Despite their length, the song structures are relatively simple. The +13 minutes "Vrill", for example, is divided into three parts: there's the long jam (mellow, harsh, mellow, harsh), followed by the stoner part and its variations, and then another jam based on the first riff. My favourite song is probably "The Sun, If Dying", for its dark and mysterious atmosphere exploding into something ominous.

While repetition is important for sludge music, I feel there are missed opportunities on I: some jams don't add anything to the song but length. The chords progression is often predictable, for better for worse. On the one hand it makes the riff stick in your head, but on the other hand it doesn't make you 'need' to revisit the album very often since you know in advance how it will end.

I found the album's song titles very interesting. While there are not a lot of lyrics, it would have been interesting to read or hear them. I feel like Drofnosura thought lyrics were of secondary importance by the way its screamo-type of vocals were placed far away in the mix.

Drofnosura is nonetheless a very interesting detour for the riffs, if not for the guitars sound. Distortion and overdrive are the Nutella on this album: you know in advance it will be tasty. The drummer often sounds as if he's improvising during the long jams, which makes the recording genuine and unique. In conclusion, if the next album follows the footsteps of this first offering, I would guess that II will be similarly crafted, somewhat predictable, but oh-so good to a sludge fan's ears.

Check it out: http://drofnosura.bandcamp.com/