For most people, Asian death metal doesn’t exist, so thank your third nipple Rudra’s new album has arrived to rectify this grave misconception. Their latest effort, “Brahmavidya: Transcendental I,” is an hour-long romp that’s the sequel to 2005’s equally obscure “Brahmavidya: Primordial I.” Rudra aren’t well known, but with so many underground bands vying for anyone’s attention these days, this Singaporean quartet belongs to the select few who really deserve a broader audience.

Ke!ep in mind that Rudra DON’T play your average death metal; theirs is a peculiar death/black metal hybrid wrapped around a broad theme, the Vedas, ancient Hindu texts dealing with matters spiritual and temporal. The Rudra guys have embraced one aspect of this immense canon called non-dualism, a philosophy they’ve elaborated on and explained across six (!) albums dating back to the mid 90’s.

The curtains open for the intro “Bhagavadpada Namaspara” where a gaggle of priestly chants accompanied by ethnic instrumentation establishes the band’s exotic appeal. Its spiritual overtones are scripture lifted from the Sanskrit Vedas and once it’s done trying to levitate the listener to a higher plain, the buzzing guitars and abrasive rhythm of “Ravens of Paradise” floods in. The first song proves a long, winding journey across cultures and languages swirling in what is perhaps the best extreme metal to come from Asia.

As “Transcendental I” progresses the heavier tracks come snapping at the heels of each other, only taking a break for the odd interlude or three—“Meditations At Dawn,” Immortality Roars,” Adiguru Namastubhyam.” “Ravens of Paradise” is followed by the confusing “Amrtasyaputra,” then the deceptive “Hymns From The Blazing Chariot,” “Advaitamrta,” “Natural Born Ignorance,” “Reversing the Currents,” “Venerable Opposites” form a withering sequence of intense musicianship and extreme progressive complexity until the blastbeat driven deluge “Majestic Ashtavakra” finishes the album. When “Transcendental I” falls silent, Rudra prove beyond any doubt how brutal, hypnotic, mind-expanding, and face melting they are.

In all honesty, “Brahmavidya: Transcendental I” is a difficult album to review. There’s enough musicality on it, from cataclysmic guitar solos to raw vocals, for a dozen lesser albums from cookie cutter bands churning out death metal these days. They don’t compare to Rudra, and never will—this fearsome foursome from Singapore have won the death metal pageant for 2009, new albums from Pestilence, Cannibal Corpse, and Suffocation be damned. This music is immense. Epic. Masterful. Transcendental.

Rudra’s mighty Myspace: www.myspace.com/vedicmetal

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 at 5:45 pm and is filed under Reviewz. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.