SYNTHEOSIS

One of the current trends in the more progressive aisles of the music store at least is the fact that more artists are choosing to collaborate and create some highly innovative side projects that could have but mostly like would not have happened otherwise. One of the more recent examples is when two of Finland's up and coming atmospheric metal bands Dark Buddha Rising and Oranssi Pazuzu coming together this one courtesy of the Roadburn Festival which has become one of Europe's leading underground events for heavy music of all types. This new project called WASTE OF SPACE ORCHESTRA is what you get when you combine the stoner doom metal laced with atmospheric sludge that has been a trademark of Laitila based Dark Buddha Rising with the blackened psychedelic and avant-garde metal of Tampere's Oranssi Pazuzu, the latter of which has become one of the metal world's latest conquering forces in the darkened underground and a clear case of why a psychedelic metal tag is ubiquitously bound to erupt into the mainstream consciousness.

In case anyone needs proof that the metal universe hosts some of the most creative and fertile musical explorations in the entire world of sonic fecundity, just one listen to SYNTHEOSIS, the debut album of WSOS, will inculcate a massive appreciation for the intricate fusion of disparate musical genres. As metal continues to evolve into more progressive and unrelenting evolutionary splinterings, it is only logical that it take the road to the world of sprawling compositional prowess that can be heard in Western classical music as well as some of the darker more adventurous arenas of progressive rock and in this pursuit of going where no band has gone before, WASTE OF SPACE ORCHESTRA easily melds together the aspects of atmospheric sludge metal of its Dark Bhuddha Rising persona perfectly with the psychedelic blackened doom variety of Oranssi Pazuzu. Unlike many so-called supergroups that tend to get in each other's way instead of properly concatenate into a cohesive whole, WOSO in many ways creates a more dynamic sum of the parts than any of the two bands have successfully crafted in their own right.

SYNTHEOSIS is a cosmic journey of epic proportion wrapped up in a blanket of psychedelic haze and contrasted with crashing percussive bombast and crushing metal guitar and bass riffing. Starting out subtle as if simulating the creative forces of evolution that emerged from the god force, the sounds that emerge like a mere pin drop of sound develop incrementally and metamorphose into every greater complexity. Adopting a more darkened version of Hawkwind's electronic sound effect fields, the music slowly generates into a sonic representation of massive solar winds crashing against the Earth's magnetic field meanwhile the hypnotic effect of the sludge induced metal riffs in perpetual cyclical loops evoke the post-metal fury of the pioneers of the genre such as Neurosis and Isis. While mostly an instrumental affair, this dramatic cosmic score finds itself hosting two vocalists, one of Vesa Ajomo aka The Shaman and the other Marko Neuman aka The Professor. While both reside in the Dark Buddha Rising camp, their roles display the ultimate cosmic battle between the spiritually infinite and the ephemeral materialistic separation of the right / left brain complexes.

With a massive lineup that includes ten musicians which means two drummers, three guitarists, two bassists, two electronic / keyboard wizards and two vocalists, it would seem that a possible sonic overload could easily derail this project but every little detail is segregated into its proper place and my hunch is that these two bands tag team rather than attack from all angles with a vengeance. Add to the ever plodding metal riffage and atmospheric wind storms, a rich variation of extra instrumentation that ranges from lush wind chimes to ethnic cosmic sitars and you are often wondering if this is psychedelic metal or metallic psychedelia. WOSO really takes the listener on an ambiguous journey. Just black enough to feel the impending doom of a cosmic blackhole where all hope and aspirations are bound to be sucked into the abyss if one dares approach too close but also flitters near the light with uplifting moments of triumph and visions of angelic forces leading the way to promised lands even as extreme metal growls and rasps of hopelessness lurk in the background trying to be heard from under the suffocating din.

When all is said and done, SYNTHEOSIS feels like a true representation of what could actually be considered space metal. Not just merely insinuating a nod and a wink to the Krautrock of the early 70s or the mere subject matter of more technically infused thrash and death metal bands but provides all the sound effects to insinuate a true interstellar locus as if this musical experience was generated on some sort of extraterrestrial base that still had ties to the Earthly influences that prompted it. Graced with both crushing metal riffage and fully fueled shamanic ritual practices coming to the ultimate climax on "Vacuum Head" it seems that the album serves as a sonic reminder of our shamanic distant past and our modern day technologically intergalactic presence and insinuates the possibilities of marrying the two which results in creating a timeless epic feeling soundtrack to the limitless combinations of musical genera. Graced with post-punk chunks of rhythmic drive expanded into post-metal sonicscapes that arc with subtle tangential fluency, WOSO is more than a collaborative band effort but a duality that merges the inner and outer worlds seamlessly into one.

Approach the cosmic portal and transport yourself into the next generation of musical collaborative efforts where the ego is shattered and the dominating mission of the musicians involved never loses sight of the greater aspirations at hand. Like a journey to the moon, SYNTHEOSIS emulates the laws of physics with energetic crests, waves, peaks and troughs that meander like disparate wavelengths transcending the vast infinity of the cosmos without a true beginning and without a true logical ending. A musical meditation that zigzags through the metallic fueled asteroid belt and the benign atmospheric emptiness of the mind, WASTE OF SPACE ORCHESTRA annihilates the notion that the metal universe is in any possible way in danger of dying out any time soon as its unparalleled reach is as expansive as the stars in the heavens above. SYNTHEOSIS is a strange beast that somehow bridged the gaps between sludge metal, black metal, post-punk, progressive rock, neo-psychedelia and ambient electronica and implemented them as colorful elements to be painted on a greater classically infused canvas. Whoah! I'm sooooo tripped out! Nice :)