There are many shades of heavy. Pombagira exist at the rumbling, seismic end of the spectrum, cranking out megalithic riffs at around five BPM. It's the kind of grinding sludgefest that typified early Melvins albums, only with fewer vocals. What vocals there are are generally treated, and kept down in the mix.
However, whereas the tracks on Melvins' 'Ten Songs', 'Ozma' and 'Gluey Porch Treatments' were all comparatively brief, 'Iconoclast Dream' contains just one track, with a running time of some forty two minutes, making for a trudge through the sludge that's also something of an endurance test.
Personally, I'm not complaining, and if you love that bottom-heavy, snail's pace Sabbath on ketamine riffery as I do, then you're going to love this heavy-duty sonic assault. What makes it particularly worthwhile is the fact it's got plenty going on besides bulldozing bass and grainy guitars, although these elements are pushed to an extent that subtle tonalities and textural variations become almost revelatory as the band explore the details at ground zero to punishing effect.
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The slower passages, such as the gentle interlude around the fifteen minute mark, are magnificent and atmospheric, and of course, make the grind even more intense when the crackling distortion kicks back in and shakes the listener to the bones. 'Iconoclast Dream' does, therefore, reveal itself as an album containing numerous dimensions, and extends far beyond the restrictive confines of doom / sludge metal. There's evidence of a compositional astuteness that's anything but that of boneheaded bludegoners.
As if to prove the point, the album ends with a recording of Adrian Mitchell reading his famous protest poem 'To Whom it May Concern (Tell me Lies About Vietnam)': it's a touching, and undeniably powerful moment, and an entirely fitting conclusion to an album of undeniable power.
Pombagira on MySpace
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