The idea of taking doom metal to crazy new places via an insane aural experience through means of psychedelia and experimentation is far from a new idea as we’ve seen the genre taken to many different places thanks to the likes of Neurosis and YOB to just name two. Luckily, there’s no shortage of bands that continue to push the limits of the genre to areas that aren’t the most unique from what we’ve seen, but they’re still incredibly interesting in every aspect, and Bong-Ra has creating a shining jewel of an example.

I’ve seen it before, although rarely: the inclusion of any form of jazz into the realm of metal. It’s the sort of thing that people who aren’t aware of such an idea will likely never think of simply because, even to me still, it’s an outlandish thought. Yet, we get some great works out of that idea, and Bong-Ra has created the most notable of such that I’ve had the fortune of listening to in recent years. While still primarily doom, “Antediluvian” takes many liberties across its four tracks of content from what sounds like a saxophone having a glorious-sounding spasm, electronic effects that permeate the already thick atmosphere which Bong-Ra summons masterfully time and again, and then the ethereal nature that allows “Antediluvian” to take on a form the likes of which is always shifting to create something different with every single spin. We simply don’t get a lot of that with the quality that’s on full display here as Bong-Ra shows us what they’re capable of. It would be easy to see this album as a cloud of fuzz compiled of not much more than poorly mixed riffs and noise, but I assure you that Bong-Ra has created something much more engaging with “Antediluvian” as should you allow it to take you, it will become apparent that there are very few things like it.

To create something that takes an already odd idea and makes it even weirder while then proceeding to make it intoxicating is a talent indeed, and Bong-Ra proves to be just the special sort of act that’s clearly up for such a challenge. “Antediluvian” is the kind of album that many doom fans have been looking for without knowing it, and I’m sure that many will crowd to the excellence that Bong-Ra has crafted here with deadly accuracy.

LISTEN to “Antediluvian” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Bong-Ra on Facebook here.