Rudra - Brahmavidya: Transcendental I (2009)

The massive expansion of metal culture through new and unexpected territories has created a wealth of foreign and 'ethnic' black and death metal, but very few bands are able to truly conjure their ancestral cultures into the framework of modern brutality. This is not the case for Singapore's Rudra, who have been doing it well for years. Brahmavidya: Transcendental I is the band's 5th full length, and to this point, hands down the greatest statement of Vedic metal I have heard.

The strength is that the band does not try and clout you over the head with a mix of folk pieces and then boring metal. The majority of the material here is very much blackened death, but through the composition of the brutal, blasting rhythms and breakdowns you are transported into the mythistory of their people, the darkness and tragedy, madness and glory. There are a few meditative pieces in which the basic sounds are repeated beneath varied vocal mantras and instrumentation ("Bhagavatpada Namaskara", "Immortality Roars", "Adiguru Namastubhyam"), and the very lavish "Meditations at Dawn", but the rest is metal up your ass. Tracks like "Ravens Paradise", "Hymns from the Blazing Chariot" and "Venerable Opposites" are astonishing and epic, carefully weaving folk melodies and punishing riffs into unforgettable vistas of the brutal and beautiful past. But if you simply want your head slammed with a vice, "Not the Seen but the Seer" and "Natural Born Ignorance" will suit you well.

Though all the instruments are distinct and clear, there is a captivating, grim edge to the guitars and crashing drums that really stands out. This is no poppy, overproduced metal record. It is feral and savage, most of the rhythms feel as if they are screaming at you straight from the jungles and mountains of Southeast Asia. This has ever been a band to follow, because noone else plays in quite this way (the other great Singapore band, Impiety is more of a brutal, straightforward Satanic style of black/death). Like other quality ethnic metal bands (Melechesh, etc), Rudra really 'get it', and they have a lot to offer with Brahmavidya: Transcendental I. The album isn't perfect (1-2 of the tracks were mildly less interesting than the remainder), but it's the closest they've yet come.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10]

http://www.rudraonline.org/