APPARITION

JAMBINAI ( 잠비나이 ) is a fascinating experimental Korean band that formed in Seoul as far back as 2009. A stealthy mix of post-rock, post-metal and traditional Korean folk music, this quintet of Ilwoo Lee (guitar, vocals, piri, saenghwang), Bomi Kim (haegeum, vocals), Eunyong Sim (geomungo, vocals), Byeongkoo Yu (bass) and Jaehyuk Choi (drums) has crafted some hauntingly original music in the world of post-rock that has earned them comparisons to Explosions In The Sky, Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Sigur Ros.

The band has released three albums so far and one EP in 2010. This latest EP titled APPARITION ( 發顯 ) hosts a collection of four new tracks that perfectly mix Korea's traditional sounds with the explosive fortitude of post-rock along with some heavier metal moments. The band makes use of a great number of homegrown instruments including the stringed geomungo, the double reed flute called a piri, a free reed mouth organ called the saenghwang and a stringed instrument called the haegum.

The results of this collection of Korean instrumentation along with the cyclical rock bravado of the guitar, bass and drums gives JAMINAI a very unique edge in the world of post-rock which has for the most part gotten rather stale in the last decade or so. While many post-rock bands go sans vocals, JAMINAI makes ample use of several vocalists that serve as supplemental instrumentation to add to the ethereal often startling contrasts which the music constructs. The ethereal male vocals will bring Sigur Ros' classic "Ágætis byrjun" to mind and the haunting female vocals offer ghostly APPARITIONs to the soundscapes that evoke disheartening uneasiness.

This is a short EP at only 26 1/2 minutes but what a fantastic collection of four songs with no filler included! Post-rock requires pacing that allows certain elements to percolate into the conscious mind and then slowly ratchet up the tension to satisfying crescendoes. JAMINAI has mastered all those Jedi mind tricks without falling into the trap of boring monotonous stagnation. The use of the Korean musical scales adds an exotic melodic system that most post-rock these days completely lacks. This is definitely a band that will scratch that post-rock itch and with a collection of tracks that perfectly exudes the imagery of the cover art this latest release isn't a bad place at all to start.