Bong – Bong

Ritual Productions

This is the re-release of Bong’s self titled album. Originally released as vinyl only and in a limited edition, Ritual Productions have decided to put out the recording for the first time on CD, allowing the tracks the extra space that the vinyl would not allow. So you not only get extended versions of the original two tracks but also a bonus track called “Asleep” as well to help make up a sixty minute running time for the CD. But does it all hold together as a cohesive whole?

“Wizards of Krull” starts with a lone drum tribally finding its rhythm before the big riff kicks in. The two note drone along with the punishing drums conjures up an imaginary soundtrack to Conan the Barbarian. By the time the haunting one note vocal kicks in you are already in the lair of Thulsa Doom. The punishing riff continues to hit its stride ,reminding of the longer wig outs of Reverend Bizarre; this is doom played with an unforgiving relentless ride into the dark side of Hyperborea. The sitar begins to move up in the mix, giving the track an Indian feel like some evening raga has got a stuck groove. When the lead smashes in, it drags the track screaming into an Acid Mothers Temple psychedelic freak out. This track alone should have a cover artwork done by Roger Dean. As the piece draws to a close it slowly disintegrates into its component parts.

Low-tuned bass note rumbles herald “The Starlit Grotto;” these crash like thunder over the rattling sounds of other instruments and feedback. The drone hangs around one note and moves at a funeral pace only punctuated by odd cymbal clangs and the stray guitar note: this is zen playing. When the spoken word vocal comes in it feels somewhat at odds with the bass dirge happening beneath it. Slowly (very slowly) the semblance of a riff begins to take hold as the drums start to pick out a rhythm and the sitar clatters in its solitary note over the top. When the vocal chant comes in the piece evolves in to music for a black mass, like a heavy metal version of The Devil Rides Out. I was wondering at this point if the track title wasn’t a play on Austin Osman Spare’s book The Starlit Mire. Fifteen minutes in and the sitar begins to get quite trippy adding a different dimension to track and giving it a ’67 vibe. Some haunting wah guitar adds to the out there ambience as the track tumbles to its close.

Bonus cut “Asleep” starts with slightly odd timing, a four note riff played powerfully on the bass as tom drums and cymbals battle around it. Slowly the two begin to converge and give the feel of a spacecraft crashed on an alien world. The sitar begins to bend its notes to add to the feeling of menace that the other instruments are creating underneath. The droning chant begins again and the howling lead punches in to take things into outer space. The track finally strips its self back to a drone and hangs there in the darkness of the universe.

If you know Bong’s output then you will know what to expect from this release and its extra track. If you are wondering about picking up one of their albums for the first time, this is a good place to start and prepares you well for the heavy doom onslaught ahead of searching out their other recordings. One strange thing did happen during listening to this album and that was a quote from a film that kept running through my head, and helps, maybe, to sum up the overall feel of the album:

Mongol General: … Conan! What is best in life?
Conan: To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women.

-Gary Parsons-