18 May 2018

Malditos: "Le Réve"


Impenetrable storms of droning psychedelia
It should come as no surprise that an entity as eclectic as Malditos hails from one of musical experimentation's current strongholds, Oakland, California. Malditos is very much a mindset band. Their darkened, nocturnal desert drones are real party killers, but with the right state of mind and setting, Le Réve turns into a rich, nightmarish phantasmagoria cascading from the your mind's eye. The darkness painted by the Oakland tribe of artists is oppressively thick and impenetrable.

"...the shrouded mystery is an essential part of their sound."

Le Reve recalls the Arabian fuzz tunes of Blaak Heat's Shifting Mirrors, but is substantially more repetitive and hypnotic for all its shimmering ambience. Though largely a creeping, menacing effort, the eerie and drawn out guitar/old time synth is aided by throbbing Middle-Eastern sounding rhythms to lighten the mood - But definitely not beyond a faint, flickering candle light in the brooding, intrusive darkness. The inclusion of Arabian-style rhythms and scales often comes off as gimmicky and unnecessary, but with Malditos the shrouded mystery is an essential part of their sound. This elevates Le Réve above most.

8/10


Released in 2017 independently, 2018 by Svart Records

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