There are just some instances that you can never really prepare for. Long have I sought out the heavier and more aggressive sides of the underground with the vessel that is Head-Banger Reviews, but it should be obvious that my love and allure for the otherworldly notions of psychedelic rock and its infinitely branching paths is something that I’ve taken hand-in-hand with my journeys through heaviness. While I find my travels through the reaches of psychedelia to be interesting, the sheer possibilities of the sound are something that I knew still had so much to impress me many times over. Tonight, having sat down to find something interesting, it’s in Sababa 5 that I found a work that I was wholly unprepared for.

I’ve had plenty of excursions into what the fringes of psychedelics can bring to the table when guided by hands that are as unafraid of exploration as they are undeniably committed to their artistic vision. It’s thanks to efforts from bands like The Re-Stoned, My Sleeping Karma, Sunguine, and many more that I find myself intimately familiar with some of the best of what instrumental psych rock can offer, yet it is with everything delivered throughout the expansive opus of “Nadir” that Sababa 5 has offered me a vision that’s simply stunning to behold. While not a work that is strictly within the realms of psychedelic rock as Sababa 5 effortlessly traverses through the realms of soul and funk, the sheer audacity of “Nadir” is what constantly keeps you coming back for more. This is a work that’s intensely infectious. Armed with a brand of rock that can only be inherited from the Middle East while having an endless jungle for a prime backdrop, Sababa 5 taps into a special side of psychedelia that is oozing with splendor, overflowing with raw captivation, and singularly undeniable in its overwhelming intoxication. “Nadir” is mysterious yet accessible with its tripped-out rhythms always beckoning you ever further into its dense thicket. Voiceless but always utilizing its siren song to keep you rooted in place then scrambling to re-enter the experience once it ends. There’s real magic in these melodies as light and dark push and pull throughout the whole of the record to make the work subtle and something that can seem unassuming at first. However, allow the waters of “Nadir” to wash over you, and you will quickly realize that there’s so much more than what your eyes and ears might see at first.

This is what happens when psychedelia is given the space, the attention to detail, and the raw daring to offer listeners something that very few others could ever hope to bring to the table. Sababa 5 has been a name that has been something to know and respect for quite a while now if their reputation truly precedes them, yet it is with damn near every given aspect of “Nadir” that this quartet elevates itself to something singularly fascinating from top to bottom. This is a performance that’s downright mandatory for any who consider themselves fans of what psychedelia can still become, for it’s the hands of Sababa 5 that are clearly amongst some of the finest.

LISTEN to “Nadir” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Sababa 5 on Facebook here.

FOLLOW Sababa 5 on Instagram here.