Nadja - Desire in Uneasiness

Nadja
Desire in Uneasiness
(04.2008, Crucial Blast)
Verdict = Earth’s kid brother

Nadja is going to, and may have already, had a hard time avoiding comparison to Earth’s most recent forays into doomy, repetitive Americana. With Earth’s indie status as rock luminaries practically carved in stone due to their near 20 years of successive, um…earth rumblings (sorry), Nadja are standing under a pretty heavy shadow. However, the band’s output belies their relatively young life and shows a kind of ambivalence to this fact. Grinding away with repetitive gritty motifs of doom laden sludge rock, Nadja’s gloomy, pulsating riffs crash like infinitely emboldened waves of sound. Desire of Uneasiness’ self reflective descriptiveness is a musical palindrome of sorts: the songs on the album both begin uneasy, plodding and awkward before reaching the transcendental in the grip of their length while simultaneously reaching uneasiness after a perfectly fine riff trudges slowly, grating an uncertain evolution. That each track can be listened to in this dual fashion depending the mood of the listener adds a depth to Desire in Uneasiness that defies its apparent simplicities. This can occasionally work against Nadja, though, when “uneasiness” translates into “unappealing.” Overall however, Nadja’s dark march satisfies stride for stride and while it can be easily compared to the equally terrific Bees Made Honey In The Lion’s Skull (and while I continue to find enjoyment pitting albums against each other), Desire in Uneasiness is as accomplished a foe as any who wish to crack Earth’s overarching drone-doom monument.

-Mr. Thistle

Nadja - "Disambiguation"