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Nadja

Helming from Toronto, Canada, Nadja are the duo of drone artist Aiden Baker and bassist Leah Buckareff. Together they create some of the most "beautiful" doom metal music out there today. Yeah, you read that right: beautiful! Although the music is painstakingly slow and incredibly heavy and down-tuned, beneath each tracks dense layers of throbbing bass and distortion lies some very subtle beauty. You might not be able to catch it at first, but if you let yourselves become hypnotized by the mood of the piece, soon enough Nadja will let you discover it's complex perfume. The comparisons to shoegazer music are totally accurate. Most of this group's work sounds something along the lines of My Bloody Valentine covering japanese sludge masters Corrupted or Godflesh going through The Cure's Disintegration. it might not sound like a good mix at first, but hearing nadja for the first time is proof that it can work. Such well hidden charm isn't exactly for just anyone, it might take a few listens before one gets accustomed to the idea, but once the music sets in, it's there for good.

I've been hearing about this band for the last few years, but never dared to try and listen as I knew I was going to like this and I would have to add them to my list of "must get everything" artists. So I waited... until I got a chance to see them live in Montreal in April of 2007 (to promote the Touched album). There were some technical difficulties before the set and the duo only played two songs amidst constant audio adjustments. It was somewhat disappointing, but it's not the group's fault at all. I did take the opportunity to get everything I could at the merchandising booth, so even though this particular live show failed to properly recreate the grandiosity of their studio albums, I would at least have these as proof of how earth shatteringly powerful they can sound.

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